The death toll from catastrophic flooding in the Asheville area of western North Carolina more than tripled on Monday to at least 40 — as survivors in remote mountain towns described seeing the bodies of victims stuck in trees.
Nationwide, there have been at least 133 fatalities from Hurricane Helene, which has cut a path of death and destruction across the Southeast since making landfall last Thursday.
“There were bodies in trees. They were finding bodies under rubble,” said Alyssa Hudson, whose home of Black Mountain — a village of 8,400 people about 12 miles from Asheville — was all but destroyed.
The rains smashed the mountains of Buncombe County, which contains Asheville, washing away whole communities in floodwaters and mudslides. Roadways were buried or dissolved altogether, leaving victims cut off from rescue crews.