Grieving families in North Carolina have been forced to bury their dead in their backyards – and are accusing authorities of downplaying the damage caused by Hurricane Helene.
The official death toll rose to 227 over the weekend – half of whom were from North Carolina – but state and federal officials told The Spectator that this number is woefully inaccurate.
Many bodies haven’t even been recovered amid debris and flooding. There are also piles of deceased people who have yet to be identified. They are being transported all over the state in hopes of finding open morgue space.
‘According to folks on the ground – fire, medical, law enforcement officials – they’re way underreporting the numbers. All the morgues are full and they’ve hauled a ton [of bodies] to Greensboro,’ the state official said. ‘People are starting to bury them in their yards because they have no place to put them.’
One individual who was in Asheville when Helene hit told The Spectator: ‘It’s so much worse than they’re saying…I think there’s a massive cover-up.’
The destruction from Helene, and the immense multi-state death toll, comes just days before Category 5 Hurricane Milton is set to barrel into Florida’s coastline.
Helene made landfall in the Big Bend region of Florida at night on September 26 before laying waste to Georgia and the Carolinas with record storm surges and tornados.
North Carolina alone had six confirmed tornados on the morning of September 27, two days before 500 members of state’s national guard were deployed to help with rescue efforts.
Locals say they are ‘pissed’ at General Major Todd Hunt, director of the North Carolina National Guard, for waiting a whole 48 hours to get boots on the ground.
Hellbound and Down 