Nearly 100 still missing in North Carolina after Hurricane Helene

BBC - Ninety-two people are still unaccounted for in North Carolina, weeks after Hurricane Helene devastated the western part of the state, Governor Roy Cooper said on Tuesday.

In a news conference on Tuesday, Cooper warned that number could change as more reports of missing people are resolved.

"I want to caution that this is not a definitive count, because the task force is continuing its work," he said.

Ninety-five people are known to have died in North Carolina as a result of the storm, while more than 220 have been killed in total, including in Florida, where the storm made landfall.

During the news conference, Cooper also made reference to the "persistent and dangerous flow of misinformation" circulating about the hurricane, which he said was continuing to complicate relief efforts.

He said such misinformation "breeds confusion and demoralises storm survivors and response workers alike".

"If you're participating in spreading this stuff, stop it," Cooper warned. "Whatever your aim is, the people you are really hurting are those in western North Carolina who need help."

His remarks come as federal workers have had to confront rising distrust from some local residents as a result of the spread of a number of false conspiracy theories relating to Helene.

The US Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) has said it has had to make changes to its operations in the state, briefly pulling out of one county because of threats fuelled by misinformation.

Last Saturday, police in Rutherford County arrested a man who allegedly spoke publicly about harming relief workers and was found with a rifle and a handgun.

The false conspiracy theories - many of them politically motivated - about land confiscation, aid payments and deliberate weather manipulation have rapidly spread online.

Reports indicate that several extremist groups are active in the region, attempting to capitalise on the disaster and the rumours.

Hurricane Helene destroyed several towns in western North Carolina, where more than six months’ worth of rain landed as the storm rolled through.

Rescue efforts were complicated by the mountainous and rugged terrain of western North Carolina, where homes and bridges were washed away and the popular tourist city of Asheville was cut off.