U.S. Rep. Cory Mills (R-FL) — who has been assisting with rescue and aid efforts in areas most affected by Hurricane Helene — expects that bodies will continue to be recovered for several weeks due to the large number of landslides in remote Appalachian communities. The official death toll is approaching 250 as of Sunday, October 5, while hundreds remain missing, particularly in Western North Carolina. Hurricane Helene is already the deadliest mainland U.S. hurricane since Hurricane Katrina destroyed large parts of the gulf coast in 2005.

At the conclusion of rescue efforts on October 3, Mills reported that he was able to speak with a fire chief in one of the hard-hit communities that is only accessibly by air. “He unfortunately reported that they had four fatalities, two more that is unaccounted for, that washed down the river, and he believes that they’re going to be recovering bodies for the next couple of months due to the amount of landslide that was in the area,” Mills said.

“We were able to get to Burnsville, do a couple of health and welfare checks, get into Asheville, do more of our actual supply distribution. Proud to say that at this point over the last three days that we have transported almost 13,000 pounds of food out of the Asheville distribution center into other areas that was more impactful,” the congressman continued.

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He did note that rescue efforts were halted when President Biden visited the disaster area, causing a no-fly-zone to go into effect around his location. “Unfortunately, one of the things that occurred today that slowed down our progress was that President Biden decided to go ahead and do a fly-in today, but then he also put a TFR, 30-mile TFR, around the actual impacted area, which means that no helicopters and no planes have any access or any capability to fly. So for four hours, they were grounded, search and rescue was grounded, distribution of food and supplies was grounded,” the congressman continued.

“And so this, in my opinion, was irresponsible. FEMA’s going to not show up and the federal government’s going to delay up to a week to be here. At least don’t stop the operations by the civilians and organizations like Mercury One, like Universal Air, like Sentinel Foundation and others who are at Samaritan’s Purse who are trying to do the right things in lieu of federal government assistance.”

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As of Sunday, October 5, the official death toll stands at 230. More than half of known fatalities have been recorded in North Carolina, particularly in Buncombe County, which has accounted for more than 40 percent of known fatalities.

Among the causes of death that are known, drowning is the most common at 16. Eleven people were killed from the landslides that blocked off roads and destroyed buildings. A cause of death has yet to be determined for an additional 17 victims, while body recovery remains ongoing.

The exact number of missing people remains unknown as of this report. Officials had initially pegged the number in the hundreds, though this has come down as people are located in remote areas and communications are brought back online.