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A 4-year-old girl died in Catawba County in a 2-vehicle crash. An 82-year-old man was killed in Buncombe County by a landslide and floodwaters. A 51-year-old man died in Mitchell County when a tree limb struck him.
These are just three of the 95 deaths chronicled in an Oct. 16 tally from the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services obtained Wednesday by Asheville Watchdog, representing the most comprehensive accounting of Helene’s death toll thus far.
According to the agency, Buncombe County suffered 42 deaths, the highest toll of the 21 counties listed. Yancey County had the next highest, with 11, followed by seven in Henderson County. The ages of the dead across the 21 counties ranged from 4 to 91.
“Each decedent is being tracked and cared for at one of two locations — Asheville and the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (OCME) in Raleigh,” NCDHHS spokesperson Kelly Haight Connor said. “The more complex cases are being sent to Raleigh for additional examination and confirmation of identification.”
The NCDHHS list gave each victim’s age, the day they died and the circumstances of their death. It also broke down the official causes of deaths thus far:
- Motor vehicle drownings: 4
- Motor vehicle crash (includes hydroplane cases): 3
- Wind/tree trauma: 6
- Drowning: 20
- Landslide: 11
- Blunt force injuries: 11
- Unknown circumstances: 34
- Other: 5
- Environmental exposure: 1
“There are complex storm-related deaths in which the exact circumstances are not immediately known,” Connor said. “These complex cases are initially classified as ‘Unknown’ and currently total 34. A team of trained forensic pathologists are working each case to determine the exact cause of death; when done, those deaths will be reclassified and added to the appropriate category.”
In the initial aftermath of the storm, Buncombe County Sheriff Quentin Miller provided updated death tolls for the county. His last count on Oct. 3 had reached 72.
When asked about the difference between the Miller’s and the state’s counts, sheriff’s office spokesperson Matthew Marshall said, “We are working on getting you information regarding this discrepancy,” and deferred to NCDHHS.
“We do not have any information about how Buncombe County was determining fatality numbers for the death totals they were reporting,” said Connor. “We understand that Buncombe County decided to stop their independent reporting as of last week and are relying on the state to report storm-related deaths.”
She said medical examiners are relying on guidance from the federal Centers for Disease Control in attributing deaths as directly or indirectly caused by the storm.
“Cases are being thoroughly investigated to determine the cause and manner of death and if the storm-related death was a direct cause [or] indirect,“ Haight said. “These are the deaths we report daily.”
Asheville Watchdog is a nonprofit news team producing stories that matter to Asheville and Buncombe County. Andrew R. Jones is a Watchdog investigative reporter. Email arjones@avlwatchdog.org. Investigative reporter Victoria A. Ifatusin joined us through a 12-month fellowship as part of the Scripps Howard Fund’s Roy W. Howard Fellowship program. You can reach her via email at vifatusin@avlwatchdog.org. The Watchdog’s local reporting during this crisis is made possible by donations from the community. To show your support for this vital public service go to avlwatchdog.org/support-our-publication/.
“These are the deaths that we report daily.”
Only one problem – the number of Buncombe deaths that have been reported by NCDHHS has stood at 42 people since October 2nd. Buncombe county sheriff Quentin Miller provided daily death counts (up to 72 people before stopping the count on October 3rd).
I have no political axe to grind. Simply, the people of Buncombe County deserve transparency after suffering through this natural disaster.