**Hurricane Helene: Death Toll Rises to 200 Amid Ongoing Rescue Efforts**

The death toll from Hurricane Helene has reached 200 as rescue missions persist in the US southeast. Hardest hit was North Carolina, where more than half of the fatalities occurred. The storm, described as the deadliest mainland hurricane since 2005's Katrina, left communities scattered and devastated.

Reports indicate hundreds of people are still missing and about one million homes remain without power nearly a week after Helene’s landfall. North Carolina, particularly the Asheville area, has suffered grievously, with tens of thousands of residents without running water, and many roads closed, impeding aid delivery. Nicole Rojas of Vilas, North Carolina, likened surviving the storm to living through an apocalypse.

On a two-day tour, President Joe Biden visited Florida and Georgia, receiving an aerial view of the damage in Tallahassee, Florida, where Helene landed as a Category 4 storm. He sanctioned federal disaster aid for survivors across five states: Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia. Biden and Vice-President Kamala Harris also surveyed the damage in North Carolina and Georgia, respectively.

To bolster recovery efforts, Biden has committed the federal government to cover all emergency protective measures and debris removal costs for six months in North Carolina, and for 90 days in Georgia and Florida. Additionally, former President Donald Trump toured Georgia’s affected areas earlier in the week.

Response efforts are substantial, with over 6,700 National Guard members from 16 states deployed, along with 1,000 active-duty soldiers. However, Homeland Security chief Alejandro Mayorkas has warned that FEMA may struggle to cope with another hurricane this season due to depleted funds.

As of Thursday, 933,000 customers remained without electricity across the southeast, according to Poweroutages.us. Meanwhile, recent relocations include 800 inmates from North Carolina prisons, with prior relocations earlier in the week affecting over 2,000 prisoners due to power and water shortages.

The Biden administration has dispatched more than 8.8 million meals, 7.4 million liters of water, 150 generators, and 225,000 tarps to assist the beleaguered region. Yet with more rainfall forecasted for parts of the Gulf Coast and Florida, recovery efforts could face further challenges.

Two more storms, Hurricane Kirk and Tropical Storm Leslie, are forming in the Atlantic. Kirk might create dangerous surf conditions in Florida and the Caribbean but is not expected to make landfall in the US, while Leslie currently poses no threat.