Helene death toll drops by 30 in North Carolina’s Buncombe County, officials say [Video]

Officials in Buncombe County, North Carolina, where Asheville is located, announced that the number of fatalities caused by Hurricane Helene in the county was overcounted.

The death toll in Buncombe County was previously reported to be 72, Sheriff Quentin Miller said during an Oct. 3 briefing.

As of Tuesday, FOX Weather confirmed that the number of deaths in the county has been lowered by 30 to 42, based on information from the Office of the North Carolina Chief Medical Examiner. However, this number might rise.

“That’s not out of the question,” said Lillian Govus, the director of communications and public engagement for Buncombe County government, who cited the new death count from the chief medical examiner.

The discrepancy between the previous and most recent death counts involves a combination of factors, according to a statement from the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office. Those factors include lack of communication after Helene, due to power and cellphone outages in affected counties, …