The death toll from Hurricane Helene has risen to 183 and hundreds are still missing as a result of the storm and its aftermath.

John Savage says he checked on his grandparents in their bedroom as Hurricane Helene roared outside. Just minutes later, he says they were killed by a tree that fell and crushed their bedroom.

Exhausted emergency crews worked around the clock to clear roads, restore power and phone service, and reach those still stranded by the storm, which killed at least 134 people in six states.

Meteorologists calculate that more than 40 trillion gallons of rain drenched the Southeast United States in the last week from Hurricane Helene and a run-of-the-mill rainstorm that sloshed in ahead of it. It’s an unheard-of amount of water that stunned experts.

In western North Carolina, where more than 40 people have died, some residents say the government was unprepared for the storm.

We’ve been very fortunate to be in a quiet weather pattern. The devastation across the South is both staggering and incredibly sad. While rebuilding will likely start quickly, it may take a decade for some communities to be back to their pre-storm form. Sunshine will burn through the fog and low clouds Tuesday morning to reveal partly sunny skies....

The shelter at Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College, known locally as A-B Tech, was at capacity with 149 people, including many families, facing an uncertain future together.

The full impact of Hurricane Helene won’t be known for weeks, but groups from both the public and private sector are mobilizing efforts to help those affected by the Category 4 storm that has killed at least 120 people and already caused billions in damage.

The Waffle House index is an unofficial metric used to determine the severity of damage caused by a storm.

As Hurricane Helene approached Florida on Thursday, several local Waffle House locations closed, leaving users on social media worried about the severity of the storm.