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Rescuers are still searching for survivors after heavy rain and wind from tropical storm Helene devastated south-eastern US, leaving more than 60 people dead, destroying homes and causing power outages for millions.

Helene tore through Georgia and the Carolinas over the weekend after making landfall as a category 4 hurricane on Thursday, causing widespread flood damage.

The US government’s Federal Emergency Management Agency is co-ordinating a rescue and clean-up effort involving 3,200 personnel across six states where a state of emergency was declared.

As of Sunday afternoon, at least 66 deaths had been recorded due to the storm across five states, according to the Associated Press. The storm, which has weakened from its peak strength of 140mph winds, is expected to dissipate by Monday.

The worst-hit state was South Carolina, where at least 25 people were killed — the highest death toll from a storm in the state since Hurricane Hugo in 1989 — following the worst flooding in a century. *

US President Joe Biden has declared major disasters for North Carolina and Florida, unlocking federal assistance programmes for the affected areas. Biden also approved emergency disaster declarations in Alabama, Georgia, Virginia, South Carolina and Tennessee, allowing federal resources to begin flowing to those states too.

North Carolina governor Roy Cooper posted on social media platform X on Sunday that the western part of the state “has been hit hard and we are working together rapidly to save lives, surge assistance and begin a difficult recovery”.

The US National Weather Service office in South Carolina said the storm was “the worst event in our office’s history”.

“We are devastated by the horrific flooding and widespread wind damage that was caused by Hurricane Helene across our forecast area,” it added.

Many people were left stranded or without shelter across the region, according to officials. About 2.7mn households were without power throughout the south-east, down 40 per cent from a peak of 4.6mn on Friday, according to the energy department.

The storm could result in up to $34bn in losses from property damage and reduced economic output, according to Moody’s. Forecaster AccuWeather’s preliminary damage estimate was higher at between $95bn and $110bn, suggesting Helene might be one of the most destructive storms in US history.

“If you drew a line from Hilton Head [South Carolina] to Charlotte [North Carolina], everything west of it is pretty well wiped out”, US senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina told CNN on Sunday.

There were record storm surge levels in the Big Bend area of Florida, with up to 15 feet of storm surge in one county, Fema administrator Deanne Criswell told CBS’s Face the Nation on Sunday. There was flooding and landslides in North Carolina, with search and rescue missions still under way.

This is “historic flooding up in North Carolina, especially [the] western part” of the state, Criswell said.

A “staggering amount of water” brought devastation, with almost 31 inches of rain falling in some parts of North Carolina, said National Weather Service director Ken Graham on Sunday.

Parts of the state were still under flash flood warnings with potential dam failures possible. More thunderstorms were expected in North Carolina, though not anticipated to bring heavy rainfall, Graham added, and the state could expect dry conditions after Tuesday. Flooding could also occur in West Virginia and West Virginia as the system moves north.

More than 2,000 people were in shelters in the south-east, according to Jennifer Pipa, vice-president of disaster response at the American Red Cross. 

Criswell said that climate change was leading to much more water damage from hurricanes than in the past, when damage was mainly from wind.

“This storm took a while to develop, but once it did, it developed and intensified very rapidly, and that’s because of the warm waters in the Gulf and so [climate change] creating more storms that are reaching this major category level than we’ve seen in the past”, she said.

*This story has been amended to clarify that South Carolina, not North Carolina, was worst-affected

The U.S. wants to stop Iran and its allies from spreading conflict in the Middle East following the killing of Hezbollah’s leader in Lebanon, the Pentagon said on Sunday.

“Secretary Austin stressed that the United States is determined to prevent Iran and Iranian-backed partners and proxies from exploiting the situation or expanding the conflict,” Pentagon Press Secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said in a statement.

“Secretary Austin made clear that should Iran, its partners, or its proxies use this moment to target American personnel or interests in the region, the United States will take every necessary measure to defend our people.”

The statement comes amid concerns that conflict could spread further across the Middle East and spark a wider war after Hassan Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Lebanon last week. Israel’s military has indicated that it is preparing to invade southern Lebanon and said Sunday it had launched additional raids on targets in Lebanon.

The Department of Defense also said it “continues to maintain a significant amount of capability in the region and to dynamically adjust our force posture based on the evolving security situation.”

“The Secretary has also increased the readiness of additional U.S. forces to deploy, elevating our preparedness to respond to various contingencies,” Ryder said in the statement. “And DoD maintains robust and integrated air-defense capabilities across the Middle East, ensuring the protection of U.S. forces operating in the region.”

White House officials said Friday afternoon that President Biden had directed the Pentagon to “assess and adjust as necessary U.S. force posture in the region to enhance deterrence, ensure force protection, and support the full range of U.S. objectives.”

Iran provides weapons and other support to Hezbollah, Hamas in Gaza and the Houthis in Yemen, while the U.S. is a strong ally of Israel and has provided the country with billions of dollars’ worth of military aid each year.