Grandparents found hugging each other after fallen tree killed them in SC home; Helene death toll rises
An elderly couple, killed in South Carolina when a large tree fell on their home during Hurricane Helene, were found embracing each other in their bed, their grandson said. He is among hundreds of residents across six Southeastern U.S. states mourning the loss of their loved ones. The death toll surpassed 230 late Saturday.
The couple, identified as Marcia, 74, and Jerry, 78, from Beech Island, South Carolina, died as the hurricane raged outside, with winds strong enough to snap branches and uproot trees, The Associated Press quoted their grandson, John Savage, as saying.
Savage recounted there was a loud “boom” that signaled the tree’s impact on his grandparents’ bedroom. “All you could see was ceiling and tree,” Savage described. “They were found hugging one another,” he said, adding that the family believes it was “God’s plan to take them together, rather than one suffer without the other.”
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As Hurricane Helene carved a path of destruction across the Southeast, the death toll rose to 227 Saturday across six states.
According to official reports, North Carolina has suffered the most, with 113 deaths. South Carolina follows with 48 fatalities. In Georgia, 33 lives have been lost; in Florida, the number stands at 20. Tennessee and Virginia report 11 and two deaths, respectively.
That number has since increased to a reported 232 dead.
Helene has been described as the second-deadliest hurricane to strike the U.S. mainland in the past 50 years, comparable only to the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
Amid ongoing search and rescue operations, many areas remain without power.
More than 460,000 customers in South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, Florida and Virginia are still facing blackouts, according to data from poweroutage.us. In South Carolina alone, 170,648 customers were without electricity as of Saturday evening.
Congress has been criticized for its response to the disaster.
Having sensed the severity of the impending disaster, members of Congress had already adjusted their schedules, vacating Washington early to prepare their respective states for the hurricane’s impact. However, the continuing resolution they passed failed to include adequate emergency relief funding.
Republican North Carolina Sens. Ted Budd and Thom Tillis, along with other lawmakers from that state and South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee and Virginia, have written letters to congressional leaders calling for a special session in October to address the funding shortfall for hurricane relief efforts, McClatchy DC reported.
“Although the true level of devastation is still unfolding, it is clear that Congress must act to meet the unmet needs in our states and address the scope and scale of destruction experienced by our constituents,” they wrote. “This may even require Congress to come back in October to ensure we have enough time to enact legislation before the end of this calendar year.”
