UNICOI COUNTY, Tenn. — Unicoi County authorities announced at a news conference on Monday that they are beginning to shift from a rescue phase to a recovery phase in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene's impact.
The Nolichucky River has now returned to close to its normal level before flooding began last week, officials said.
"We are beginning to be able to start to put the pieces back together," said EMA Public Information Officer Myron Hughes. "We are continuing damage assessment operations."
Last week, the Unicoi EMA reported that deadly flooding had taken place in Unicoi County and around three dozen people had been reported missing.
On Sunday, authorities held an updated press conference stating that that number had increased to 73 and that debris management experts were looking through remnants. All teams were deployed this weekend to help get power restored in outage areas, officials said.
Yesterday, the Department of Health also confirmed four weather-related deaths in East Tennessee, one of which was in Unicoi County. The identities of two of these victims have been released—Jean and Mike Obrist died from the flooding in Cocke County.
Over 100 responders are out in the county today and the EMA anticipates having all remaining unexplored roads brought resources from authorities by the end of Monday, said EMA Director Jimmy Erwin. As of Sunday morning, there were 1,500 people without power in Unicoi County and 433 water customers without service.
An additional briefing is scheduled for Monday at 5 p.m.
TBI has a missing person list currently in place for Hurricane Helene. Those who need to report missing people believed to be in the affected across East Tennessee can contact 1-800-TBI-FIND.
For updates on the latest number of missing people in Unicoi and surrounding counties, visit the Tennessee Emergency Management website.
We will update you as we learn more.