The death toll in the wake of Hurricane Helene in the southeastern United States has risen to at least 100, according to authorities, with rescue efforts continuing.
US President Joe Biden has described the impact of the storm as “stunning”.
Speaking to reporters on Monday, Biden pledged his administration would “continue to surge resources, including food, water, communications and life-saving equipment”.
“We will be there with you as long as it takes,” he said. He added that he may have to request a supplemental funding package from the US Congress to support the effort.
Biden also announced that he planned to visit North Carolina – one of the hardest-hit states – later this week.
Rescue, recovery and cleanup operations continue across hard-hit areas of Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and Tennessee.
Flooding and the storm’s heavy rains brought the most severe damage, which destroyed roads and infrastructure across the region.
Helene had made landfall in Florida, on Thursday when it was a Category Four hurricane. It was accompanied by winds of 225 kilometres per hour (140 miles per hour).
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It weakened as it moved inland but caused a swath of damage stretching more than 804 kilometres (500 miles).
At least 39 people died in North Carolina, 25 in South Carolina and 17 in Georgia.
Also, 14 died in Florida, four in Tennessee and one in Virginia, according to tallies from local authorities. The overall death toll is expected to rise.
One county in North Carolina, Buncombe, had at least 30 deaths, the local sheriff said on Sunday.
The county, which includes the hard-hit city of Asheville, is in the Blue Ridge mountains and experienced particularly severe flooding. Search operations continued on Monday.
Nearly two million households and businesses remained without power on Monday, according to tracker poweroutage.us.
Climate change experts have warned that warmer sea temperatures are causing increasingly strong storms in the Atlantic. Although August and September had proven surprisingly subdued.
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