Hurricane Helene death toll reaches 22 as floods devastate southeastern US

The death toll from Hurricane Helene has risen to at least 22 as states across the southeastern United States are hit by devastating floods.

The 400 mile-wide storm made landfall in Florida’s Big Bend before midnight Thursday local time just east of the mouth of the Aucilla River — ten miles from the town of Perry, which has now been hit by three major storms in 13 months.

Moving toward the northeast, it cut through already fragile communities with sustained winds of up to 140mph and an “unsurvivable” storm surge of 20ft.

As dawn broke over the impact zone on Friday morning, scenes of the destruction emerged, with houses inundated or swept away by floods, communication towers wrenched from the ground and buildings collapsed.

Ron