CNN has been doing a live-blog of the storm since before landfall. Here are a couple recent posts:
At least 25 dead as Helene brings life-threatening flash flooding to Southeast
More than 50 people stranded on roof of Tennessee hospital More than 50 people are stranded on the roof of a Tennessee hospital on Friday after rising floodwaters from Hurricane Helene complicated evacuation efforts.
Ballad Health said it was notified Unicoi County Hospital, located in Erwin, Tennessee, needed to be evacuated at around 9:30 a.m. local time Friday. But because of flooding and high winds, ambulances and helicopters could not reach the building safely. Erwin is just over 40 miles north of Asheville.
A total of 54 people were moved to the roof, and seven others are in rescue boats, Ballad Health said in a statement. The hospital system said there were 11 patients included.
The hospital has since been “engulfed by extremely dangerous and rapidly moving water,” the statement said. Because of how quickly the water was rising around and inside the hospital, rescue boats were also not able to get people out safely.
Ballad Health said the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency and the National Guard are working on “a dangerous rescue operation.” Michael Baker, a town alderman, said several helicopters are currently attempting to get hospital patients and staff off the roof.
“There’s a helicopter on top of the hospital, and we have another one, hovering nearby to start to carousel getting everybody off, but this is a team effort,” Baker told CNN.
This post has been updated with additional details.
Rivers and streams across the South have reached flood stage Multiple Southern states have seen heavy rainfall and devastating flooding since Helene inched closer to the US on Thursday....
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