Asheville has been largely cut off after Helene wrecked roads and knocked out power and cell service

ASHEVILLE, N.C. (AP) — Floodwaters pushed by the remnants of Hurricane Helene left North Carolina’s largest mountain city largely cut off Saturday by damaged roads and a lack of power and cellphone service, part of a swath of destruction across southern Appalachia that left an unknown number dead and countless worried relatives unable to reach loved ones.

The storm spread misery across western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee, where on Friday authorities used helicopters to rescue dozens of people from the rooftop of a flooded hospital. In North Carolina alone, more than 400 roads remained closed on Saturday as floodwaters began to recede and reveal the extent of damage. North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper said that supplies were being airlifted to that part of the state.

Among those rescued from rising waters was nurse Janetta Barfield, whose car was swamped on Friday morning as she left an overnight shift at Asheville’s Mission Hospital. She said she watched a car in front of her drive through standing water and thought it was safe to proceed. But her car stalled, and within minutes water had filled her front seat up to her chest. A nearby police officer who saw her car stall helped her to safety.

“It was unbelievable how fast that creek got just in like five minutes," Barfield said.

Early on Saturday morning, many gas stations were closed because they didn’t have electricity, and the few that were open had hourlong lines wrapped around the block. The hub of tourism and arts, home to about 94,000 people, was unusually still after floodwaters swamped neighborhoods known for drawing visitors including Biltmore Village and the River Arts District, which is home to numerous galleries, shops and breweries.

More than 700,000 power customers were without power across North Carolina, including 160,000 in Buncombe County. Interstate 40 and I-26 were impassible in multiple locations, and a state transportation department map showed that most routes into Asheville and across much of the mountains were snarled.

In Asheville, there was no cellular service and no timeline for when it would be restored. Residents were also directed to boil their water.

“We have had some loss of life,” County Emergency Services Director Van Taylor Jones told reporters. However, he said they were not ready to report any specifics. Officials have been hindered in contacting next of kin by the communications outages.

Jones said the area experienced a cascade of emergencies that included heavy rain, high winds and mudslides. Officials said they tried to prepare for the storm but its magnitude was beyond what they could have imagined.

“It's not that we (were) not prepared, but this is going to another level,” Sheriff Quentin Miller said. “To say this caught us off-guard would be an understatement.”

Atlanta resident Francine Cavanaugh said she has been unable to reach her sister, son, or friends in the Asheville area.

“My sister checked in with me yesterday morning to find out how I was in Atlanta,” she said on Saturday. “The storm was just hitting her in Asheville, and she said it sounded really scary outside.”

Cavanaugh said her sister had no idea how bad the storm would be there. She told Cavanaugh she was going to head out to check on guests at a vacation cabin “and that’s the last I heard of her. I’ve been texting everyone that I know with no response. All phone calls go directly to voicemail.”

Across the state line in Greene County, Tennessee, the threat of a stressed dam was easing on Saturday morning. The Tennessee Valley Authority, which had warned residents overnight that the Nolichucky Dam could breach, said Saturday morning that the river had crested and was receding. The TVA said the dam was intact and that crews were continuing to assess the dam.

Meanwhile, TVA on Saturday said it was actively monitoring levels at the utility’s Watauga Dam in Carter County, Tennessee, where the pool rose to about 3 feet (0.9 meters) over previous records. Employees were working to get water out of the reservoir by releasing from Watauga and Wilbur dams.

Along the Pigeon River, the small Tennessee city of Newport suffered heavy flooding.

Kendale Ball, who had opened his Simple Cafe in June after relocating from Knoxville, said water reached nearly thigh-high.

“We never anticipated it to be this devastating,” he said of the storm.

They tried to move some equipment ahead of the flooding but left town when an emergency evacuation was ordered.

“I know we lost our walk-in cooler, all the refrigeration. We’ll have to assess some of the other stuff.”

In Unicoi County, where the people were rescued from the hospital Friday, Elin Fisher and her husband had to move their camper three times to stay ahead of rising waters. They also helped to move eight other campers.

“We would move things and go, ‘Oh, we’re 30 feet above the waterline,’ go help somebody else move their thing to that level, and go, ‘Oh. We’ve got to move. Again.’ And it was just really, really rapid,” said Fisher, who along with her husband teaches whitewater standup paddleboarding on the Nolichucky River. In the middle of the final move, officials closed the road.

“All of our belongings and our home is on the other side of the river, and we can’t get to it,” she said on Saturday.

Fisher said they had been staying at a USA Raft campground just downstream of the Unicoi County Hospital, where the rescue happened. “As soon as I pulled up on the road and looked upstream at the hospital and saw that the river was coming out of its banks more and more and more, I was like, ’This is all going to go really fast.′ It was really terrifying,” she said.

“USA Raft is a rafting company, so we had been watching and monitoring water levels,” she said. “But it’s kind of a thing where, like, you can’t imagine what a trillion dollars is. Like it’s unfathomable — the idea of this much water. I think we knew that it was going to be huge. We didn’t know that it was going to be so devastating."

Loller reported from Nashville and Walker from from Newport, Tennessee.

A police car blocks a bridge crossing the Pigeon River in Newport, Tenn., Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. Tropical depression Helene brought flooding to the area on Friday. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

People walk along River St. near the Pigeon River where flood damage is seen Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, in Newport, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

A person crosses River St. where flood damage is seen Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, in Newport, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

A home site destroyed by flood water is seen Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, in Newport, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

People walk along River St. flood damage is seen Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, in Newport, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

Flood damage is seen inside a home along River Rd., Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, in Newport, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

Ashlie Salliotte, left, hugs Janet Sams, right, at Sams' flood damaged home along River Rd, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, in Newport, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

Debris litters Hendersonville Road in Historic Biltmore Village in Asheville, N.C. on Friday, Sept. 27, 2024. (Josh Bell/The Asheville Citizen-Times via AP)

Emergency personnel watch as floodwaters rise, Friday, Sept. 27, 2024, in Asheville, N.C. (AP Photo/Erik Verduzco)

Dustin Bentley, center kisses his wife Jennifer Bentley, left, after retrieving family photos from their flood damaged home as his mother Janet Sams looks on Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, in Newport, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

A man walks near a flooded area near the Swannanoa river, effects from Hurricane Helene , Friday, Sept. 27, 2024, in Asheville, N.C. (AP Photo/Erik Verduzco)

Jonah Wark, right, kisses his wife Sara Martin outside their flood damaged home on the Pigeon River, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, in Newport, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — SpaceX launched a rescue mission for the two stuck astronauts at the International Space Station on Saturday, sending up a downsized crew to bring them home but not until next year.

The capsule rocketed into orbit to fetch the test pilots whose Boeing spacecraft returned to Earth empty earlier this month because of safety concerns. The switch in rides left it to NASA’s Nick Hague and Russia’s Alexander Gorbunov to retrieve Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams.

Since NASA rotates space station crews approximately every six months, this newly launched flight with two empty seats reserved for Wilmore and Williams won’t return until late February. Officials said there wasn’t a way to bring them back earlier on SpaceX without interrupting other scheduled missions.

By the time they return, the pair will have logged more than eight months in space. They expected to be gone just a week when they signed up for Boeing’s first astronaut flight that launched in June.

NASA ultimately decided that Boeing’s Starliner was too risky after a cascade of thruster troubles and helium leaks marred its trip to the orbiting complex. The space agency cut two astronauts from this SpaceX launch to make room on the return leg for Wilmore and Williams.

Williams has since been promoted to commander of the space station, which will soon be back to its normal population of seven. Once Hague and Gorbunov arrive this weekend, four astronauts living there since March can leave in their own SpaceX capsule. Their homecoming was delayed a month by Starliner’s turmoil.

Hague noted before the flight that change is the one constant in human spaceflight.

“There’s always something that is changing. Maybe this time it’s been a little more visible to the public,” he said.

Hague was thrust into the commander’s job for the rescue mission based on his experience and handling of a launch emergency six years ago. The Russian rocket failed shortly after liftoff, and the capsule carrying him and a cosmonaut catapulted off the top to safety.

Rookie NASA astronaut Zena Cardman and veteran space flier Stephanie Wilson were pulled from this flight after NASA opted to go with SpaceX to bring the stuck astronauts home. The space agency said both would be eligible to fly on future missions. Gorbunov remained under an exchange agreement between NASA and the Russian Space Agency.

“I don’t know exactly when my launch to space will be, but I know that I will get there,” Cardman said from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, where she took part in the launch livestream. Wilson joined her there for the early afternoon liftoff.

Moments before liftoff, Hague paid tribute to his two colleagues left behind: “Unbreakable. We did it together.” Once in orbit, he called it a ”sweet ride” and thanked everyone who made it possible.

Earlier, Hague acknowledged the challenges of launching with half a crew and returning with two astronauts trained on another spacecraft.

“We’ve got a dynamic challenge ahead of us,” Hague said after arriving from Houston last weekend. “We know each other and we’re professionals and we step up and do what’s asked of us.”

SpaceX has long been the leader in NASA’s commercial crew program, established as the space shuttles were retiring more than a decade ago. SpaceX beat Boeing in delivering astronauts to the space station in 2020 and it’s now up to 10 crew flights for NASA.

Boeing has struggled with a variety of issues over the years, repeating a Starliner test flight with no one on board after the first one veered off course. The Starliner that left Wilmore and Williams in space landed without any issues in the New Mexico desert on Sept. 6, and has since returned to Kennedy Space Center. A week ago, Boeing’s defense and space chief was replaced.

Delayed by Hurricane Helene pounding Florida, the latest SpaceX liftoff marked the first for astronauts from Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. SpaceX took over the old Titan rocket pad nearly two decades ago and used it for satellite launches, while flying crews from Kennedy’s former Apollo and shuttle pad next door. The company wanted more flexibility as more Falcon rockets soared.

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NASA astronaut Nick Hague, right, talks to his family members as Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov looks on after leaving the Operations and Checkout building for a trip to the launch pad 40 Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. Two astronauts are beginning a mission to the International Space Station. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with a crew of two lifts off from launch pad 40 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024 at Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with a crew of two lifts off from launch pad 40 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024 at Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with a crew of two lifts off from launch pad 40 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024 at Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

In this image from video provided by NASA, Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, left, and astronaut Nick Hague travel inside a SpaceX capsule en route to the International Space Station after launching from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. (NASA via AP)

Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, left, and NASA astronaut Nick Hague leave the Operations and Checkout Building on their way to Launch Complex 40 for a mission to the International Space Station Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024 at Cape Canaveral, Fla., (AP Photo/John Raoux)

NASA astronaut Nick Hague, left, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov wave as they leave the Operations and Checkout building for a trip to the launch pad 40 Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. Two astronauts are beginning a mission to the International Space Station. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket sits on Launch Complex 40 at the Space Force Station Friday, Sept. 27, 2024, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. Two astronauts are scheduled to begin a mission on Saturday afternoon to the International Space Station. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, left, and NASA astronaut Nick Hague arrive at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024 as they prepare for their mission to the International Space Station. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

NASA astronaut Nick Hague, left, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov pose for a photo after they arrived at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024 as they prepare for their mission to the International Space Station. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

In this image released by NASA, NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, both Expedition 71 Flight Engineers, make pizza aboard the International Space Station's galley located inside the Unity module on Sept. 9, 2024. Items are attached to the galley using tape and velcro to keep them from flying away in the microgravity environment. (NASA via AP)

Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, left, and NASA astronaut Nick Hague pose for a photo after they arrived at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024 to prepare for their mission to the International Space Station. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

NASA astronaut Nick Hague, left, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov leave the Operations and Checkout building for a trip to the launch pad 40 Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

NASA astronaut Nick Hague waves as he leaves the Operations and Checkout building for a trip to the launch pad 40 Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov reacts as he leaves the Operations and Checkout building for a trip to the launch pad 40 Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

NASA astronaut Nick Hague, right, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov leave the Operations and Checkout building for a trip to the launch pad 40 Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

NASA astronaut Nick Hague, left, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, left, gives a thumbs up as they leave the Operations and Checkout Building on their way to Launch Complex 40 for a mission to the International Space Station Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024 at Cape Canaveral, Fla., (AP Photo/John Raoux)

This image provided by NASA shows NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov inside the SpaceX capsule Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (NASA via AP)

Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, left, and NASA astronaut Nick Hague wave as they leave the Operations and Checkout Building on their way to Launch Complex 40 for a mission to the International Space Station Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024 at Cape Canaveral, Fla., (AP Photo/John Raoux)