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New satellite images show more of the devastation left by Hurricane Helene, which made landfall in Florida at the end of September.
The devastation of Helene is still being cleared and many are unaccounted for while Hurricane Milton, now officially a Category 4 hurricane, is set to hit Florida on Wednesday night.
The National Hurricane Center has predicted that the tropical-force winds, which have exceeded 150 mph, may reach Florida’s west coast earlier, on Tuesday at 8 p.m.
Helene brought 140 mph winds by the time it reached the land, and some parts of North Carolina had much as 30 inches of rainfall.
The city of Asheville in North Carolina had just under 14 inches of rain in that three-day period, and the satellite images from Maxar Technologies provided to Newsweek show the impact of the flooding on the city’s infrastructure.
The images show extensive mud and silt from the floods covering vast areas of roads in Biltmore Village, Asheville, on October 7, in stark contrast to those taken in 2020.
In other parts of the city, Biltmore Avenue suffered a similar fate, with mud appearing to still cover much of the area.
Along a stretch of the Swannanoa River Road in Asheville, flood damage can be seen in car parks and on the road, as well as damage to some of the buildings.
In the wake of the damage, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas warned earlier this month that while there was sufficient funding for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to cover the needs of affected communities following Hurricane Helene, “FEMA does not have the funds to make it through the season.”
However, he has since insisted FEMA has enough resources to respond to the incoming Hurricane Milton after it was reported by the New York Times that less than 10 percent of the organization’s staff members were available to respond.
The issue of the funding has led to many scrutinizing the $640 million worth of aid FEMA provides for the country’s migrants.
While Congress approved a $20 billion disaster relief fund for FEMA at the end of last month, there were billions of dollars left out of the additional funding and a long list of Republicans who voted against the bill.
More devastation is predicted as Milton is forecast to bring up to 15 inches of rain across Florida, as well as a 12-foot storm surge that has been described as potentially life-threatening.
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