Helene turns inland flooding into Biden’s largest 2024 disaster response

Hurricane Helene made landfall in Florida and drove catastrophic flooding into Georgia, the Carolinas, Tennessee and Virginia in late September 2024. NOAA reported that Helene and Milton together caused more than $100 billion in combined damage across the Southeast. President Joe Biden approved major disaster declarations for North Carolina, Florida, South Carolina and Georgia, while state officials warned that recovery in western North Carolina would take years.