North Carolina appears to be nearing a final death count for Tropical Storm Helene, which is welcome news after concerns that the state’s official numbers were undercounting or lagging in counting fatalities.
An earlier high death count from Buncombe County had implied that the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner was dealing with a backlog of bodies after the storm, but Carolina Public Press has learned that is not the case. The earlier numbers from Buncombe appear to have been a significant overcount.
Representatives from the state Department of Health and Human Services told CPP that each decedent is being tracked and cared for at a morgue in one of two locations — Asheville and the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Raleigh.
As of Friday, three decedents tied to the storm are undergoing continued examination in Raleigh. No additional decedents in Asheville were awaiting examination or identification at that time.
As of 10 a.m. on Friday, DHHS has confirmed 95 deaths related to Helene across 21 counties. The three bodies being examined in Raleigh have already been included in the total death count.
Buncombe revises death count
Buncombe County Sheriff Quentin Miller said in a press conference Oct. 3 that the county had 72 deaths and more than 200 people missing after the storm. However, the most recent DHHS data reported only 42 deaths in Buncombe. The sheriff is not disputing that finding.
Although the search for bodies is still ongoing in some parts of Western North Carolina, DHHS media relations director Patsy O’Donnell told CPP that the department does not expect a substantial rise in the official death toll for Buncombe or surrounding areas.
Buncombe officials later walked back their initial reports of 72 deaths and have since referred to the state’s numbers.
"We absolutely are saying DHHS is the source on that,” Public Information Director Matt Marshall told CPP on Thursday.
Public information officer Christina Esmay later provided further clarification about the discrepancy in an email statement to CPP.
“In the early aftermath of Hurricane Helene all deaths were being classified as storm-related and from Buncombe County. However, as the days progressed BCSO was able to identify who had passed away due to the hurricane, who was in fact from Buncombe County, and who passed away from other causes,” Esmay’s email read.
“Compounded with the lack of consistent communication, due to widespread outages, the Buncombe County fatality number that was initially provided to Sheriff Miller has decreased.”
How NC confirms storm-related deaths
Before being included in the death count, fatalities from Helene are verified by the Office of the Chief Medical examiner, which reports them daily. The OCME investigates all deaths in North Carolina due to injury or violence, as well as natural deaths that are suspicious, unusual or unattended by a medical professional.
In the case of Helene, OCME uses guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to certify that reported deaths were a result of the storm.
The department, which has faced scrutiny in recent years because of long wait times for autopsy reports, has longstanding budget and staffing requests with the N.C. General Assembly. However, DHHS insisted that staffing was not an issue when it came to completing the death count from Helene.
“OCME is sufficiently staffed for this response, and staff are incredibly busy working and focusing their efforts to care for the decedents and to support the families left behind” media relations manager Kelly Haight told CPP in an email.
The department received an assist from a 44-person Disaster Mortuary Operational Response Team, which is a federal asset comprised of coroners, mortuary officers, medical examiners and other specialists that supports local mortuary services in the event of a disaster.
OCME pulled additional resources from Wake County, the FBI, the State Bureau of Investigation, the N.C. National Guard and agencies in other states to help with fatality search and recovery efforts.
Data provides snapshot of lives lost
North Carolina has confirmed 95 deaths related to Helene across 21 counties.
Buncombe has the most reported deaths with 42, followed by Yancey with 11. A complete list appears at the end of this article.
The exact causes of those deaths include drowning, motor vehicle crashes, wind or tree trauma, landslides, blunt force injuries, lack of basic necessities, missing medical appointments and hypothermia due to environmental exposure. A plurality, 32 of the reported deaths, were due to drowning, followed by landslides with 20 deaths.
The oldest victim was a 91-year-old woman in Yancey County who was recovered from an area affected by flooding and a mudslide. Four of the confirmed victims were children under 10-years-old.
Several of the recovered victims included in the death count do not yet have confirmed ages or causes of deaths, and that information is likely to be updated in the coming days.
Helene death count in NC by county
The following list is alphabetical by county and is based on the Tropical Storm Helene-related death count numbers that DHHS released as of 9 a.m. Friday. Counties with no deaths are not included.
- Ashe County, 1
- Avery County, 4
- Buncombe County, 42
- Burke County, 1
- Catawba County, 1
- Cleveland County, 2
- Gaston County, 1
- Haywood County, 5
- Henderson County, 7
- Macon County, 2
- Madison County, 4
- McDowell County, 1
- Mecklenburg County, 2
- Mitchell County, 2
- Polk County, 1
- Rowan County, 1
- Rutherford County, 3
- Wake County, 1
- Watauga County, 2
- Yadkin County, 1
- Yancey County, 11
This article first appeared on Carolina Public Press and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
