Hurricane Helene: Dolly Parton donates $1m to recovery efforts

Helene is the deadliest mainland storm since Katrina in 2005.

Making landfall as a category four hurricane, Helene damaged structures, caused flash flooding and knocked out power to millions of homes. Over half a million properties remain without electricity as of Saturday.

The US government has said the clean-up effort could take years.

While a large proportion of the deaths occurred in North Carolina, others have been recorded in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia.

“This is my home,” Parton said at Friday’s news conference, which took place outside a Walmart store in Newport, Tennessee.

“God has been good to me and so has the public, and I feel that if there’s anything I can do to give back in any way I can I’m always willing to do that. I want to feel like I’m doing my part.”

Explaining that many of her relatives lived in the area, the singer said: “I was heartbroken like everybody else, and just amazed and devastated by it.”

She added: “All these people feel like my people.”

Eleven people have so far been confirmed dead in Tennessee due to the storm, according to the latest official tally, external, with more still unaccounted for.

At least two factory workers were swept away by floodwaters in Erwin, in the north-east of the state.