Hurricane Helene killed 108 people in North Carolina and 237 total across the South.

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Hurricane Helene's 237 deaths across six states made it the deadliest mainland U.S. hurricane since Hurricane Katrina killed 1,833 people in 2005. North Carolina's 108 deaths were concentrated in mountainous Western counties that had never experienced hurricane-force flooding—Helene's remnants dumped two feet of rain in 48 hours on terrain where water rushes downhill violently. Many victims drowned in flash floods or were killed by landslides. The high death toll exposed gaps in FEMA's early warning systems for inland flooding and revealed that mountain communities lacked evacuation plans because they didn't consider themselves hurricane-vulnerable. The shutdown prevented FEMA from conducting after-action reviews and updating flood maps to reflect new climate-driven rainfall patterns.

Hurricane Helene killed 108 people in North Carolina and 237 total across the South.

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