Hurricane Helene left a path of destruction across the southeast United States, claiming the lives of more than 200 people.
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00:00A week after making landfall, the full extent of Hurricane Helene's destructive path across
00:07the United States Southeast becomes clearer.
00:14Helene unleashed devastation on homes in North and South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee
00:20and Virginia.
00:22At least 200 people have been confirmed dead, making it the deadliest storm to hit mainland
00:26America since Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
00:33And that toll is expected to rise, with a massive search and rescue operation underway
00:42for hundreds of people still missing.
00:45There are 92 rescue teams out working, doing search and rescue right now.
00:51We also know there are going to be a significant number of fatalities here.
00:56The devastation was beyond belief.
01:03The Category 4 storm, with winds of 225 kilometers per hour, unleashed some of the worst flooding
01:08seen here in decades, sweeping away homes, cars and roads.
01:18More than a million people remain without power, and food, water and petrol are in short
01:23supply.
01:25With a cleanup effort underway, some residents have been able to return home, only to find
01:30chaos.
01:31It's horrendous.
01:32I mean, there's no roads.
01:37There's no evidence of roads.
01:39There's no trees.
01:41It's just water and stone.
01:45There's nothing left.
01:48While visiting those impacted, President Joe Biden pledged immediate aid packages and vowed
01:53the federal government will cover the cost of debris removal for three months.
01:57The U.S. President also directed 1,000 soldiers to help with the response and recovery efforts.
02:03That's on top of the 6,000 National Guard members and 4,800 federal aid workers already
02:09deployed in the region.
02:10This direct assistance is now being delivered, it's being delivered now, directly, with more
02:16to come.
02:17But folks, this entire project is going to cost billions of dollars, not tens of thousands,
02:24not millions, not a billion, billions of dollars.
02:29But even with additional aid, the U.S. government says the clear-up effort of this mammoth storm
02:34could take years, leaving residents here with a long road to recovery.
02:39Dolphine Chen and Rosie Grenninger for Taiwan Plus.