NEW YORK, October 3. /TASS/. Hurricane Helene disrupted the operation of water supply systems in Asheville (North Carolina), leaving nearly 100,000 people without clean water, Axios reported.

According to the news outlet, some 100,000 residents of Asheville "may have to wait weeks for clean water." At the same time, Hurricane Helene’s abating floodwaters creates threats of mold, gastrointestinal illness and dehydration. The state government is working to restore the water supply, residents are recommended to adhere to strict rules for boiling and purifying water, the portal reports.

Earlier, the NBC television company reported 175 deaths. The highest death toll - 90 - was registered in the North Carolina. In South Carolina 36 people were killed, 25 in Georgia,14 in Florida, eight in Tennessee, and two in Virginia. According to experts from the financial company Moody's Analytics, the economic damage from Hurricane Helene will reach about $34 billion.

On September 25, Category 4 Hurricane Helene made landfall in the sparsely populated Big Bend region in Florida. Shortly thereafter, it weakened to a Category 1 and then to a tropical storm.

On October 1, US Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas announced that the recovery process from Hurricane Helene would take years and would be extremely expensive. On October 2, CNN reported that the death toll from Hurricane Helene had reached 162.