CEDAR KEY, United States (AFP) — Rescuers struggled on Saturday with washed-out bridges and debris-strewn roads in the search for survivors of devastating Storm “Helene,” which killed at least 63 people across five states and caused massive power outages.

At least 24 people died in South Carolina, 17 in Georgia, 11 in Florida, 10 in North Carolina and one in Virginia, according to local authorities and media tallied by Agence France-Presse.

Federal emergencies were declared in six states — Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee — with more than 800 personnel from the Federal Emergency Management Administration deployed.

More than 2.6 million customers were still without electricity across 10 states from Florida in the southeast to Indiana in the midwest as of early Sunday morning, according to tracker poweroutage.us.

In affected communities across the eastern coast and midwest, storm victims and volunteers toting trash bags, mops and hammers tried to repair what they could and clean up the rest.

“There’s only a couple businesses open. They have limited supply. So I’m just worried about families that have kids and stuff like that, getting somewhere to stay and have something to eat,” said Steven Mauro, a resident of Valdosta, Georgia.

“Helene” slammed into Florida Thursday as a Category 4 hurricane and surged north, gradually weakening but leaving in its wake toppled trees, downed power lines and mudslide-wrecked homes.

Now classified as a “post-tropical cyclone,” the remnants of the storm are expected to continue inundating the Ohio Valley and central Appalachians through Sunday, according to the National Hurricane Center.

The National Weather Service said conditions would “continue to improve today following the catastrophic flooding over the past two days.”