Helene in South Carolina: Governor briefing for Tuesday

South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster and other state officials hold a news conference in Columbia to discuss Helene relief efforts.

​Officials are gathered at the emergency management headquarters in Columbia.

With Helene's death toll nearing 150, searchers fanned out across the region, using helicopters to get past washed-out bridges and hiking through wilderness to reach isolated homes. Nearly half of the deaths were in North Carolina, while dozens of others were in South Carolina and Georgia.

Many who lived through what was one of the deadliest storms in U.S. history were left without electricity or any way to reach out for help. Some cooked food on charcoal grills or hiked to high ground in the hopes of finding a signal to call loved ones.

President Joe Biden was set to survey the devastation in the region Wednesday.

More than 150,000 households have already registered for assistance with the Federal Emergency Management Agency — a number that is expected to rapidly rise in the coming days, said Frank Matranga, an agency representative.

Nearly 2 million ready-to-eat meals and more than a million liters of water have been sent to the hardest-hit areas, he said.

With at least 31 killed in South Carolina, Helene was the deadliest tropical cyclone to hit the state since Hurricane Hugo made landfall north of Charleston in 1989, killing 35 people.