Every day, the news out of the Carolinas and surrounding areas gets worse and worse as the official body count continues to rise.
South Carolina feels like the forgotten disaster zone in all of this devastation, but areas of the Palmetto State got some of the worst of the storms.
And this elderly couple are just two of the dozens who have died in the state.
An elderly couple, killed in South Carolina when a large tree fell on their home during Hurricane Helene, were found embracing each other in their bed, their grandson said ...
The couple, identified as Marcia, 74, and Jerry, 78, from Beech Island, South Carolina, died as the hurricane raged outside, with winds strong enough to snap branches and uproot trees, The Associated Press quoted their grandson, John Savage, as saying.
Savage recounted there was a loud 'boom' that signaled the tree's impact on his grandparents' bedroom. 'All you could see was ceiling and tree,' Savage described. 'They were found hugging one another,' he said, adding that the family believes it was 'God's plan to take them together, rather than one suffer without the other.'
Jerry reportedly shielded Marcia as the tree fell, trying to protect her as his final act.
It is unknown how many more bodies have not been found following Hurricane Helene.
The most recent death toll on Monday brings the number killed to 232 across six states.
According to official reports, North Carolina has suffered the most, with 113 deaths. South Carolina follows with 48 fatalities. In Georgia, 33 lives have been lost; in Florida, the number stands at 20. Tennessee and Virginia report 11 and two deaths, respectively.
That number has since increased to a reported 232 dead.
Locals and volunteers on the ground are estimating the totals could be much, much higher when it is all said and done.
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