Falling trees and raging floods from Hurricane Helene killed more than 150 people when it struck Florida late last week and then plowed through the Southeast as one of the deadliest storms in U.S. history.
People died in six states: Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia.
Among them were first responders who perished in wind-ravaged and rain-soaked communities, often while trying to help others. Not all were human: An eastern Tennessee police department lost a K-9 named Scotty to the rapidly rising floodwaters.
Here are some of the stories of the victims:
A veteran South Carolina fire chief and a young firefighter who was just starting his career died when their engine was struck by a falling tree, officials said.
A convoy on Tuesday led the bodies of Chad Satcher, 53, a 35-year-veteran, and Landon Bodie, 18, from a hospital to a funeral home in Saluda, a town of around 3,100 located about 80 miles (130 kilometers) southeast of Greenville.
“We lost two dedicated members who loved their communities and neighbors enough to make the ultimate sacrifice,” Saluda County Fire Services in a Facebook post.
Satcher and Bodie were responding to a building fire when the tree fell hit their truck.
Sheriff’s Capt. Michelle Quintero, who ran Madison County jail, died while driving to work Sunday when a dam broke and she was caught in the floodwaters.
Quintero, 48, knew when she took the oath of office that she might one day “have to give it all,” said Sheriff’s Deputy Chief Coy Phillips, her brother.
“From the juveniles we house to the most hardcore inmate we had, everybody loved her. She was one of those people who treated everybody right. She treated everybody fair,” Phillips said. “It didn’t matter who or what you were, she took care of everybody.”
Phillips said he was left heartbroken: “She was my everything.”
A North Carolina deputy’s truck was carried off by an overflowing river while he was on lunch break from his job as a courthouse security officer, according the Macon County Sheriff’s Office.
The office received a call shortly before noon Friday about a truck sinking in the river with someone trapped inside, officials said
Around the same time, officials realized that Deputy Jim Lau had not returned from lunch, and his truck matched description of the one in the river.
Rescue workers began searching that afternoon on foot and with drones, and several swift-water teams were called in. The search was suspended at sunset, but Lau’s body was found shortly after it resumed Saturday morning.
“Jim was very liked and respected within our department,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement. “He was known to be a hard worker, dependable, and he jumped in wherever help was needed.”
The county is located about 140 miles east of Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Vernon “Leon” Davis, a veteran firefighter of 30 years, died in Blackshear when a tree fell on his vehicle, officials said. He was 69.
“Chief Davis is a hero who devoted his life to serving his fellow Georgians,” state Attorney General Chris Carr said on social media.
Davis worked for years at the Ware State Prison before retiring as chief in charge of the facility’s inmate firefighting team. He then was hired as assistant chief for the department in Blackshear, about 80 miles (130 kilometers) northwest of Jacksonville, Florida.
“Leon loved helping his community any way he could and never let a chance to help someone slip past him,” the funeral home where he was taken said on its website.
Besides first responders, Helene also took the lives of members of the same family, as in the case of Stephen Donehoo, 72, and and Izaac Donehoo, his 10-year-old great-grandson. They were pronounced dead after a tree fell on a home in Augusta, according to Richmond County Coroner Mark Bowen.
“Our family lost two wonderful souls to the storm,” Michelle Donehoo, Stephen’s daughter and Izaac’s grandmother, posted on Facebook. She posted a link to a GoFundMe to help with funeral expenses.
Sam Carlton said via Facebook that she lost her “little nephew” and “Pops.” She said Izaac would have been 11 in November and he grew up with her son.
“Aaron grew up with his cousin Izaac … and those of you who knew Steve knew how amazing his soul was,” Carlton said.
This stor corrects a previous version that misidentified where Capt. Michelle Quintero worked. She was employed at the Madison County, North Carolina, sheriff’s office, not the Madison County, Florida, sheriff’s office.
Claudi Lauer in Philadelphia; Mike Schneider in Orlando, Florida; and Stephanie Matat in West Palm Beach, Florida, contributed to this repor News
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