Theresa Opeka
Carolina Journal
Buncombe County officials are revising the number of deaths caused by Hurricane Helene. Asheville is the county seat of Buncombe County.
According to the Associated Press, the Buncombe County Sheriff’s office said in a statement Tuesday that it is deferring to a state tally of 42 deaths for the county, down from 72, which was reported on Oct. 3. The number in the state’s tally has stood at 42 since Oct. 10.
State officials have relied on reviews by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Raleigh. It typically reviews weather deaths and rules on cause before reporting numbers through state officials, a process it has used in past storms for years.
Helene’s chaos caused several counties to report fatality numbers independently of the state. The state’s tally has gradually increased through Tuesday, but the climb has slowed as bodies have been examined.
The statement, attributed to Public Information Officer Christina Esmay, cited factors ranging from updated causes of death to communication challenges after the storm knocked out cell service and electricity in multiple mountain counties.
“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,” the statement said. “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.”
State Department of Health and Human Services spokesperson Kelly Haight Connor told the Citizen-Times in Asheville on Monday that all storm-related deaths found in the mountains have been examined and accounted for, but she couldn’t rule out the possibility of the number increasing.
Ninety-five fatalities have been confirmed across the state as of Oct. 21, which was the same as Gov. Roy Cooper’s report last week, and there are approximately 26 people still unaccounted for, down from 92 last week.
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