By Jack Phillips Contributing Writer  President Joe Biden on Sunday approved the declaration of a federal major disaster in North Carolina and Florida after hurricane Helene caused widespread damage in both states, including severe damage to the western portion of North Carolina, where torrential rains have sparked mudslides and flooding that have cut off entire communities.  In a news release issued by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the president said he approved North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper’s request for a federal major disaster declaration for 25 North Carolina counties and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.  “The people in western North Carolina are hurting from this devastating storm and we are all working to get resources to people as fast as we can,” Cooper said in a Sunday statement. “We have deployed rescue teams, transportation crews, water, mobile kitchens and more. This is going to be a long-term recovery and this federal declaration will help us respond.”  Buncombe County, which includes the mountain city of Asheville, North Carolina, reported 30 people killed due to the storm, pushing the overall death toll to at least 84 people across several states.  In Florida, Biden approved a federal major disaster declaration for 17 counties across the state, according to FEMA.  Helene made landfall late Thursday as a Category 4 hurricane along a largely undeveloped expanse of pine trees and salt marshes on Florida’s Big Bend coast, before it weakened to become a tropical storm hours later.  The storm produced far-reaching effects across much of the southern United States, producing flooding and tornadoes several hundred miles away.  In North Carolina, Helene’s heavy rains in the state’s western mountains caused massive flooding and mudslides in the Asheville region, cutting off most communication and making roads impassable.  Videos posted online show large portions of the city of Asheville underwater. In North Carolina alone, more than 400 roads remained closed as of Saturday as floodwaters began to recede and reveal the extent of the damage, officials said.  Cooper said supplies were being airlifted to that part of the state. Buncombe County officials said Interstate 26 between Asheville and South Carolina had reopened, but most other routes into the city were impassible.  At a press conference on Sunday, the governor warned that more fatalities are expected.  “This is an unprecedented tragedy that requires an unprecedented response,” Cooper said.  He asked residents to avoid traveling on roadways in western North Carolina, not only to avoid dangers but also to keep roads clear for emergency vehicles. More than 50 search teams have fanned out across the region in search of stranded people.  “Many people are cut off because the roads are impassable,” Cooper said. Supplies were being airlifted to the region around Asheville, a city tucked in the western North Carolina mountains and known for its arts, culture and natural beauty.  More than 533,000 customers were without power across North Carolina on Sunday, according to tracking website PowerOutage.us. In Florida, more than 205,000 were without power, while 800,000 were without power in South Carolina and 660,000 lacked power in Georgia, the site showed.  Western North Carolina has become isolated as a result of the landslides and flooding, which forced the closure of Interstate 40 and other roads, authorities said. There have been hundreds of water rescues, such as in rural Unicoi County in eastern Tennessee, where dozens of patients and staff were rescued by helicopter from a hospital rooftop on Friday.  Late last week, there were warnings that heavily flooded rivers had overtopped multiple dams in both North Carolina and Tennessee, sparking concerns of dam failures.  On Saturday afternoon, the Tennessee Valley Authority said a crew determined that one of the Helene-threatened dams, the Nolichucky Dam, was secure and stable. But it noted that the peak water elevation at the dam was 9 1/2 feet higher than the previous record set in November 1977.  The day before, authorities with the National Weather Service had warned that the Lake Lure dam in western North Carolina overtopped, prompting evacuations and warnings about a possible dam failure. Town officials said Saturday on the municipality’s website that the dam ultimately did not fail and “remains stable.”  The Associated Press contributed to this report.  The post Federal disaster declared for North Carolina, Florida after Helene  appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.