Hurricane

ASHEVILLE, N.C. (AP) — Officials say federal disaster workers have resumed door-to-door visits as part of hurricane recovery efforts in North Carolina. The visits were temporarily suspended after reports emerged over the weekend that Federal Emergency Management Agency employees could be targeted by a militia members. The government response to Hurricane Helene has become a rampant subject of disinformation. A sheriff’s office says one man was arrested in connection with the investigation into threats, but that suspect acted alone. FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell says the agency isn’t going anywhere. She and Gov. Roy Cooper called on people to stop spreading falsehoods about the recovery efforts so that people who need help can get it.

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Officials say federal disaster workers paused and then changed some of their hurricane-recovery efforts in North Carolina, including abandoning door-to-door visits, after receiving threats. The threats that they could be targeted by a militia emerged over the weekend, at a time when the government response to Helene is being targeted by rampant disinformation. The Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office said it received a call about a man with an assault rifle who commented about possibly harming employees of the Federal Emergency Management Agency working in the hard-hit areas of Lake Lure and Chimney Rock, in the North Carolina mountains. The man was later arrested charged with a misdemeanor.

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper has signed the state’s first relief package to address Hurricane Helene’s devastation. The bill signed Thursday allocates $273 million for immediate needs and gives flexibility to agencies and displaced residents in western counties. The Republican-dominated legislature approved the measure unanimously the day before. Nearly all the money will be used to meet the federal government’s match for state and local disaster assistance programs. Other provisions help nutrition workers in closed schools. The money is coming from the state’s large savings reserve. The bill also changes how upcoming elections are conducted in 25 counties. More Helene relief legislation could advance in two weeks.

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina legislators have approved an initial $273 million relief package to help address Hurricane Helene’s devastation and recovery in the mountains. The unanimous House and Senate passage on Wednesday came less than two weeks after Helene’s historical rainfall caused catastrophic damage and loss of life. Repubilcan legislative leaders who helped craft the measure described it as a down payment on aid. The bill also mostly follows rule alterations for conducting elections and turning in ballots that were approved unanimously Monday by the State Board of Elections for 13 western counties. But it would now cover 25 counties. Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper and the board offered input for the bill.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Emergency Management Agency has been fighting misinformation since Helene slammed into Florida nearly two weeks ago. The false claims are being fueled by former President Donald Trump and others just ahead of the presidential election, and are coming as the agency is gearing up to respond to a second major disaster. Hurricane Milton is set to strike Florida on Wednesday. The FEMA administrator told reporters Tuesday that she’s never seen the disinformation problem as bad as it’s been with Helene. A county official in North Carolina says part of the problem is that affected regions have been largely without phone lines and internet, so outside voices have an easier time setting the narrative.

BELLEAIR BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Milton has become a Category 5 hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico on a path toward Florida’s west coast. Milton’s growth Monday sets the stage for a dangerous storm surge in Tampa Bay and potential mass evacuations less than two weeks after a catastrophic Hurricane Helene swamped the coastline. Milton’s center could come ashore Wednesday in the Tampa area, and it could remain a hurricane as it moves across central Florida toward the Atlantic Ocean. It is threatening Florida less than two weeks after Hurricane Helene caused deaths and catastrophic damage in that state and well inland.

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina General Assembly leaders say they’re prepared to approve initial disaster relief next week. House Speaker Tim Moore and Senate leader Phil Berger said in a Friday news release that they’re still working out the details of exactly what’s needed for now to address the damage from Hurricane Helene. Lawmakers at an already-scheduled one-day session Wednesday are expected to advance a down payment on the state’s share of relief funds as well as legal changes to provide flexibility to agencies and displaced residents. State government coffers already include $5.5 billion in “rainy day” and disaster reserves.

A new study says hurricanes in the United States are hundreds of times deadlier in the long run than the government calculates. In fact, the researchers say they contribute to more American deaths than car accidents or all the nation’s wars. Wednesday’s study says the average storm hitting the U.S. contributes to the early deaths of 7,000 to 11,000 people over a 15-year period. That dwarfs the average of 24 immediate and direct deaths that the government counts in a hurricane’s aftermath. Study authors said even with Hurricane Helene’s growing triple digit direct death count, far more people will die in future years in part because of Helene’s effects.

ASHEVILLE, N.C. (AP) — The death toll after Hurricane Helene left a trail of destruction across the U.S. Southeast has reached at least 133. A crisis is unfolding in the mountains of western North Carolina, where water, food and other supplies are being airlifted into places cut off by mudslides and washed-out roads. Officials worry the death toll will rise further as searchers reach isolated areas. Nearly three dozen people have died in the county that includes the tourism hub of Asheville. The city’s water system has been severely damaged. Forecasters are keeping a close eye on Tropical Storm Kirk, which is expected to become a powerful Atlantic hurricane this week.

PERRY, Fla. (AP) — Massive rains brought by Hurricane Helene have left many people stranded or homeless as the cleanup begins from the monster tempest that killed at least 56 people. Helene has caused billions of dollars in destruction across a wide swath of the southeast U.S. More than 3 million customers were without power Saturday, and some face a continued threat of floods. Helene blew ashore in Florida’s Big Bend region as a Category 4 hurricane late Thursday and then quickly moved through Georgia, the Carolinas and Tennessee, uprooting trees, splintering homes and sending creeks and rivers over their banks and straining dams. Deaths from the storm have occurred in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia.