The hurricane, one of the most deadly in US history, knocked out power and cellular communication in some towns and cities. The death toll from Hurricane Helene has increased to 175 people, and hundreds more remain missing as a result of the storm and its aftermath, with many stranded in catastrophic flooding across the Southeast.
Parts of North Carolina have been decimated, with whole communities destroyed. There have been at least 90 deaths in the state. The storm caused North Carolina’s worst flooding in a century, with some areas receiving more than 2 feet (61 centimeters) of rain.
President Joe Biden visited North Carolina on Wednesday and instructed the Department of Defense to send up to 1,000 active-duty soldiers to help the North Carolina National Guard carry supplies, food, and water to isolated towns.
Many people are still missing, causing anxiety and anguish among friends and relatives who are attempting to locate their loved ones. WCNC Charlotte wanted to go over various techniques you can utilize to discover them or notify authorities to look for them.
American Red Cross:
The American Red Cross can assist you in finding or searching for a missing loved one. If you are looking for someone in South Carolina, the Red Cross offers a form you can use. If you’re looking for someone in North Carolina, here is the Red Cross reunion form to fill out. The Red Cross also offers this service in Georgia, Tennessee, and Florida. The Red Cross Reunification Teams will review the forms and look for your loved ones. The group has encouraged people not to fill out several forms for the same person because it will drag down the process. It has also urged people not to phone it. Red Cross Reunification teams are working rapidly to establish these relationships. Please do not make multiple requests or contact the 800 number so that we can respond to each request as promptly as possible.
United Way Welfare Check:
The United Way has partnered with North Carolina 211 to allow people to submit requests for missing persons, welfare checks, and even rescues. You can find the form here. They are also looking for volunteers to help search for anyone affected by the storms. To volunteer with the United Way, complete this Volunteer Search Google Form, indicating your skillsets, availability, and county. Then, a local United Way representative will contact you about a volunteer opportunity.
How do you properly contact your loved ones?
The Red Cross provided the following advice for individuals searching for persons after a natural disaster. Communication methods are sometimes hampered due to extensive power outages and limited internet connection. Here are some suggestions to avoid those issues:
- To increase your chances of getting through, call during off-peak hours.
- Send a text message, which may get through when phone calls do not.
- Check your loved one’s social media profiles since they may have already gone online to share their experience.
- Send an e-mail.
- Call friends and family who may have already communicated with your loved one.
- Contact people and places where your loved one is well-known, such as neighbors, employers, schools, places of worship, senior centers, social clubs, unions, and fraternal organizations.
More than 150,000 households have registered for aid with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and this figure is projected to grow dramatically in the coming days. The Federal Communications Commission stated that significant damage and outages to essential communications infrastructure left many individuals without consistent internet and cellular connectivity. According to a company statement, Verizon teams were working to restore downed cell towers and damaged fiber cables and provide alternative forms of communication throughout the region. AT&T, meanwhile, announced “one of the largest mobilizations of our disaster recovery assets for emergency connectivity support.” According to David Zumwalt, president and CEO of the Association for Broadband Without Boundaries, the region’s geography and spread-out population hampered efforts to restore service.
