Helene"s death toll rises above 40 More than 40 people have been killed in Hurricane Helene’s deadly rampage through south-eastern US, according to a tally by the Guardian and the Associated Press on Friday afternoon. At least 15 were killed in Georgia, Garrison Douglas, a spokesperson for the governor, Brian Kemp, announced. Among the deaths so far recorded in the state were a first responder; and a seven-year-old boy and four-year-old girl when a tree fell on their home in Washington county and trapped them in their burning home, WRDW TV reported. Officials in South Carolina reported at least 17 storm-related deaths, including two firefighters killed when their vehicle was struck by a tree before sunrise on Friday. Numerous other fatalities involved trees falling on residences. A four-year-old girl died in Claremont, North Carolina, in a traffic accident in heavy rain. Five were killed in Pinellas county, Florida, with at least two by drowning, the local sheriff, Bob Gualtieri, said. Other reported fatalities in that state included a 70-year-old woman found in a flooded house in Tampa, a person killed in a traffic accident late on Thursday, and one dead when a tree fell on their house in Dixie county. A curfew in Asheville, North Carolina, has been announced as most of the city remains without power. The curfew will last from 7:30 p.m. to 7:30 a.m. beginning Friday, 27 September, until 7:30 a.m. on Saturday, according to Sept. 29, the Asheville Police Chief, Mike Lamb, announced. “The curfew is to ensure the public’s safety and will be in effect until further notice,” city officials said in a Facebook post. Tennessee warning of imminent dam failure "false alarm" The city of Newport, Tennessee, said the dam failure warning given earlier “was a false alarm.” In a post on Facebook, officials assured there had not been a catastrophic failure at the Waterville Dam near the Tennessee border. The false alarm came from the Emergency Management Agency, according to the post. “We encourage everyone to stay safe and shelter in place,” reads the statement. More than 200,000 utility customers in Ohio did not have power on Friday after the hurricane passed over the state, according to PowerOutage.US. South Carolina remained the state with the most customers out of power, with more than 1.2 million left in the dark. The utility tracker also estimates that about 930,000 customers in Georgia and 870,553 customers in North Carolina remained without power on Friday. About 720,700 customers were in the dark in Florida. A warning for two tornadoes was issued for Sampson county and Nash county, in North Carolina. Raleigh’s National Weather Service said trees and power lines were down near Garland, North Carolina, while 15 people were injured in the city of Rocky Mount. Every person stranded on Tennessee hospital roof rescued, senator says. Every person stranded on the roof of a hospital in Erwin, Tennessee, has been rescued, according to Bill Hagerty, a Tennessee senator. “More trouble on the horizon for East Tennessee communities,” Hagerty wrote in a post on X. Michael Baker, alderman of Erwin, Tennessee, called the atmospheric event a “a once in a lifetime storm” during an interview with KHOU. Tennessee’s Cocke county mayor, Rob Mathis, ordered an evacuation for all of downtown Newport, according to the Tennessee emergency management agency. The order was handed after a ‘catastrophic failure’ of the Waterville Dam in the eastern region of the state. The Virginia state police sent out aviation units to help rescue 58 hospital patients trapped on the roof of Unicoi county hospital in Erwin, Tennessee. Authorities posted a photo showing the hospital surrounded by water. Here’s some dramatic video of another helicopter rescue we told you about earlier, of a sailor and his dog plucked by a Coast Guard crew from the Gulf of Mexico as Hurricane Helene bore down. The remarkable footage, posted to X by journalist Brian Entin, shows the man and his golden retriever abandoning their stricken yacht and splashing in the water before being winched to safety. Mudslides and floodwaters from Helene are causing chaos on the roads in several states. The storm washed out a section of Interstate 40 at the North Carolina-Tennessee state line, officials said. The Tennessee department of transportation said the interstate was closed in both directions. In North Carolina, meanwhile, transportation officials said all roads in the west of the state should be considered closed until further notice. A tornado spawned by tropical depression Helene left four people critically hurt and several others with minor injuries in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, on Friday afternoon, the Associated Press reported. Three buildings received significant damage, including two restaurants and an auto service center, while a fourth building, a cafeteria, received minor roof damage, Jonathan Edwards, the Nash county communications director, said. Helene"s death toll rises above 40 More than 40 people have been killed in Hurricane Helene’s deadly rampage through south-eastern US, according to a tally by the Guardian and the Associated Press on Friday afternoon. At least 15 were killed in Georgia, Garrison Douglas, a spokesperson for the governor, Brian Kemp, announced. Among the deaths so far recorded in the state were a first responder; and a seven-year-old boy and four-year-old girl when a tree fell on their home in Washington county and trapped them in their burning home, WRDW TV reported. Officials in South Carolina reported at least 17 storm-related deaths, including two firefighters killed when their vehicle was struck by a tree before sunrise on Friday. Numerous other fatalities involved trees falling on residences. A four-year-old girl died in Claremont, North Carolina, in a traffic accident in heavy rain. Five were killed in Pinellas county, Florida, with at least two by drowning, the local sheriff, Bob Gualtieri, said. Other reported fatalities in that state included a 70-year-old woman found in a flooded house in Tampa, a person killed in a traffic accident late on Thursday, and one dead when a tree fell on their house in Dixie county. Helicopters have arrived at Unicoi hospital in Erwin, Tennessee, as a rescue effort for 50 staff and patients trapped on the roof gets under way. This image was posted to X just now by Tennessee state representative Diana Harshbarger. Weather experts are warning that the effects of Hurricane Helene will continue to be felt across a wide area of the south eastern US over the next few days, even after its 2pm ET downgrade to a tropical depression. Jon Porter, chief meteorologist of AccuWeather says residents of multiple states need to continue to be on their guard: This has been an absolutely devastating storm across the south east US [and] we’re going to be dealing with significant impacts, including catastrophic flooding, over the next 48 hours. Extreme storm surge in Florida’s Big Bend washed away homes on the coastline. Substantial storm surge set new all-time tide gauge records in the Tampa Bay area, surpassing levels seen in the March 1993 Superstorm. That was the storm of record for Tampa Bay, Helene shattered those records in many areas. Many susceptible and expensive properties were heavily damaged by storm surge all along the Gulf Coast of Florida, especially. We’re going to be dealing with tens of billions of dollars in damage and economic impacts from this storm. Ballad Health, which runs Unicoi Hospital, released a statement earlier this afternoon confirming that the patients and staff had to evacuate to the hospital roof after rapid flooding from the nearby Nolichucky River. Eleven patients were at the hospital at the time that evacuation efforts were starting around 9:30 am ET, but while the hospital deployed ambulances “the flooding of the property happened so quickly the ambulances could not safely approach the hospital.” The water around the hospital and high winds in the area are making it difficult for boats and helicopters to enter the area, according to the statement. “The situation at the hospital is very dangerous and TEMA [Tennessee Emergency Management Agency) and the National Guard resources are engaged in what can only be described as a dangerous rescue operation,” the statement said. 50 people trapped on hospital roof after flooding in Tennessee Patients and staff at a hospital in Tennessee are trapped on the roof of the hospital building after flooding overwhelmed the area. Rescue operations by the state emergency agency and the National Guard are underway at Unicoi Hospital in Erwin, Tennessee, about 100 miles outside of Knoxville. Erwin police chief Regan Tilson told local news station WCYB that no one has been injured in the flooding, though over 50 people are trapped on the hospital roof. The rescue teams are using boats to rescue patients and staff as roads have become inaccessible due to flooding. Dramatic images posted on social media show the hospital nearly completely submerged in water.