Hurricane Helene hits 225 across six states (adding longer title text here for a test for image feature)

The death toll in the US from Hurricane Helene has risen to more than 225, with many more unaccounted for, as communities across six states reel from its effects including several hundred thousand homes left without power and short of clean water.

The federal government has deployed soldiers and military helicopters to help emergency workers reach people stranded in remote towns unaccustomed to such brutal conditions. Flooding destroyed highways and torrential rain unleashed mudslides on people’s homes. 

The toll was highest in North Carolina, where almost 100 fatalities were estimated, followed by South Carolina. The southern states of Georgia, Florida, Tennessee and Virginia were also badly affected.Scientists have found that warming sea temperatures are linked to more intense hurricanes. A preliminary study from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California found that climate change may have boosted the amount of rainfall over parts of Georgia and North Carolina by as much as 50 per cent as the hurricane dumped moisture collected over the Gulf of Mexico where record temperatures have been reached.

Vice-president Kamala Harris travelled to North Carolina on Saturday, a key election battleground state. The Democratic presidential nominee had already been to Georgia during the week, where she helped to distribute meals and spoke with families in Augusta. 

President Joe Biden, too, has travelled to areas hard-hit by the storm, and said he may ask Congress to return from a planned recess to pass a bill that would send more federal funds to affected areas. Former president Trump also toured areas affected by the hurricane, and criticized the federal response.

The crisis come just weeks before November’s US presidential election, at a time when millions of voters are already casting early ballots, either in-person or by mail. Election experts have warned that the destruction in North Carolina could lead to a significant disruption to voting there.