It had been 48 hours since the winds and rains from Hurricane Helene ripped through western North Carolina and Sam Perkins still had not heard from his parents.

The death toll from Helene climbed as emergency responders rushed to rescue residents in small mountain towns that have been cut off from communication.

Abandoned vehicles caked with mud. Mountainous rural roads and slices of highways washed away into rivers. Parking lots filled with people desperately searching for cellphone service, trying to tell relatives and friends they are OK — or wanting to find out who is not.

After making landfall in Florida, Helene devastated the southeastern U.S., fully submerging some towns in North Carolina.