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In contrast to minuscule death tolls reported by mainstream media outlets, conservative estimates from multiple first responders suggest Hurricane Helene caused at least 500 fatalities during its apocalyptic deluge in Western North Carolina last week.
These sources furthermore indicated that more than 1,500 people remain missing as rescue operations continue — numbers reinforced by frequently updated estimates posted to Hurricane Helene People Finder.
After barreling through Florida, Georgia and South Carolina, Helene infiltrated the Tar Heel State on Friday, September 27, 2024. Torrential rainfall was accompanied by six tornadoes, flash floods, mudslides, sinkholes, power outages and complete communication blackouts.
“We lost power, we lost cell phone service and as far as emergency services are concerned, we lost radio communications,” said Scott Jones, chief of the Fairview Volunteer Fire Department. “None of us, at least in my lifetime, have ever experienced anything of this magnitude.”
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? Helene’s Aftermath | After 48 hours in the Appalachian Mountains, early returns indicate that Hurricane Helene caused at least 500 fatalities in Western North Carolina alone. That number is expected to triple, according to multiple frontline sources.
— Andrew Fancher (@RealAndyFancher) October 9, 2024
“I look at a tape measure… pic.twitter.com/R4xnea7N29
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Come 7:30 a.m. EDT, sunrise revealed a wasteland of splintered homes and pummeled cars tossed throughout the North Carolina High Country. Within hours, mountaineers took to search and rescue efforts — noting mass casualties across at least Buncombe and Rutherford Counties.
“From Garren Creek on down to Fletcher, [N.C.], we saw Cane Creek turn into a roaring rapid,” Jones continued. “Cane typically flows eight to 12 feet wide. During the storm, it ran 400 feet wide.”
“Houses are gone,” he added. “Families are gone.”
In the immediate aftermath of Helene, Fairview Volunteer firefighter Tony Garrison died while attempting a rescue when a second landslide struck the mountainside.
Mountaineers took FITSNews throughout Appalachia, where the pungent smell of death was noted across Lake Lure and Swannanoa. We were furthermore shown the decimated remnants of Asheville and Black Mountain, among other hollowed-out municipalities.
“We’re finding bodies by the hundreds,” noted a first responder with dozens of cardboard boxes containing empty body bags. “We’re talking orphanages, nursing homes… There’s ten empty body bags per cardboard box. And we just shipped out twenty boxes.”
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After being provided an iPhone photo of at least 11 additional cardboard boxes labeled “body bags” at Hickory Regional Airport, FITSNews was shown an aerial photo of Lake Lure — in which multiple bodies were purportedly strewn throughout a floating debris field.
The author was further introduced to several N.C. Department of Transportation (NCDOT) employees, who noted the recent discovery of two deceased children accompanied by four deceased adults while clearing debris from a major thoroughfare in Buncombe County.
“I look at a tape measure daily,” said a nearby volunteer assisting response efforts. “So, believe me when I say that we saw body bags stacked five feet high and 35 feet deep… We could go on for days. The evidence is here, and I don’t know why people aren’t talking about this.”
Now, 11 days after Helene’s deluge, mountaineers remain steadfast in their ability to locate survivors within the Appalachian hollers. Rural churches have since banded together to coordinate supplies, welfare checks and rescue operations throughout at least Flattop Mountain and adjacent areas.
“Everyone went to work immediately,” said Michael Keister, a U.S. Army (USA) veteran turned emergency supply manager for Pleasant Grove Baptist Church. “As soon as daylight broke, community members took to the water and pulled out who they could.”
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Having been deployed to South Asia in 2009, Keister compared post-Helene Appalachia to that of Afghanistan. He furthermore noted that upwards of 400 all-terrain vehicles have facilitated the delivery of food, water and lifesaving supplies to displaced survivors.
While guiding us through the remnants of his secluded mountain town on a side-by-side vehicle, Keister’s community members noted that a nearby family lost 11 people to Helene — one of the strongest, deadliest and costliest storms ever to make landfall in the continental U.S.
“This is something that soldiers deal with when they come back from the battlefield,” continued Keister. “That destruction, that chaos, that death, that carnage. It’s difficult. It’s heavy. And it’s that heaviness that’s weighing on our responders and those out there clearing the debris.”
As mainstream media packs their production trucks and prepares for Hurricane Milton, count on FITSNews to continue reporting on the rebuilding of Appalachia in the days, weeks and years to come.
“Nothing could have prepared us for this storm,” concluded Keister. “The entire Appalachian landscape has changed. Water is taking a new path… But this storm has brought our community together in such a crazy way. It’s healthy, healing and almost incredible.”
UPDATE | On October 9, 2024, Facebook censored the author for posting conservative estimates of Helene-related fatalities in Western North Carolina. Founding editor Will Folks then addressed Meta’s suppression in a follow-up report.
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THE GALLERY…
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR …
Andrew Fancher is a Lone Star Emmy award-winning journalist from Dallas, Texas. Cut from a bloodline of outlaws and lawmen alike, he was the first of his family to graduate college which was accomplished with honors. Got a story idea or news tip for Andy? Email him directly and connect with him socially across Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
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11 comments
Climate deniers can deny the cause, but it won’t change the results.
Have these allegations been proven? No one has to my knowledge documented bodies floating in Lake Lure and the fatality count is much lower. This information is very upsetting for those of us who live and have property in the area.
What is clear from hundreds of independent accounts the death toll from this storm is far more than “officials” claim. The government mouthpieces AKA Mainstream Media always parrots the lies because it’s easy and comfortable to sit in the big van and wait for “officialdumb” to provide them with statements.
As opposed to Trump, Tucker Carlson, Fox, Newsmax, and similar fake news sites, much like this one. They choose to lead with what they want the news to be, because it’s good for Trump.
Only officials can tell you the “official” death toll, because they have to confirm that; they can’t go by Jimmy said. Only officials know how many people have been reported missing. Tens of thousands of people are working tirelessly and doing everything they can to find everyone and to deal with the devastation. Billions of dollars of aid is being expended. They don’t need snakes like Donald Trump, and you lying to people for Trump’s benefit and making their job harder.
What about the scumbag assistant Fire Chief at Lake Lure, who threatened a good Samaritan helicopter pilot from Pageland, SC with arrest if he went back on a mountain to rescue his co-pilot and son, plus the elderly husband of a woman the pilot had just brought down from the mountain? Queen City News investigative reporter Jody Barr (formerly of WIS-TV) did a great service in reporting on that travesty. Then there is the Lake Lure town manager, or mis-manager, who doubled down on claiming the assistant Fire Chief did right when he caused the elderly husband of the woman rescued, to have to be dragged across a nasty, polluted, river; rather than taking a 3 minute helicopter ride to rejoin his wife.
Those two clowns need to be fired, yesterday!
Thanks A.Fancher & FitsNews FOR THE REAL LIFE STORYS !!! I wish You STAY SAFE THANKs
Where are the photos of the 35 foot pile of body bags? TOTAL BS. Everything is a conspiracy to these people. Shame on you!
ShitNews
For you folks with blinders on, take your lazy comfortable asses to these places and see for yourself instead of calling people Trump supporters. After this administrations disaster relief I would vote for a pill of shit before I would vote for these people.
Climate change didn’t do this the military industrial complex did this by seeing a natural low level storm and making it this big. You are the fricken denier. You deny that the government and ones in office don’t give a crap about us. They do care about so those lotion mines that is up there were this storm just happened to take place. You guys think everything is a conspiracy theory. Try washing up to reality.
jen, do us all a favor and stay inside.