Hurricane Helene has claimed at least 44 lives following its destruction through the southeast US.

Deaths were reported in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia.

Among the dead were three firefighters, a mother and her infant twins, and an 89-year-old whose house was struck by a fallen tree.

Over 3.4 million people were still without power just after 1 a.m. Saturday, with South Carolina 1.1 million customers out, according to poweroutage.us.

Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, Ohio and Virginia are also reporting over 100,000 customers with no electricity.

With Post wires

At least 40 people were killed in storm Helene, the destructive Category 4 hurricane that touched down in Florida late Thursday.

Nineteen of those deaths occurred in South Carolina, the Associated Press reported, a state that was battered by high winds and flooding as the remnants of the hurricane moved north.

With Post wires

Millions of Americans across the South and Mid-South were without power as the remnants of the Category 4 storm plowed through, bringing heavy rains, flooding, and tornado warnings. At least 4.5 million people are without power as of 6:20 pm ET.

In South Carolina alone, 1.1 million customers are without power. Duke Energy announced multi-day outages were expected as they work to restore power. 

“We have over 11,000 storm workers who are committed to doing everything possible to restore service as quickly and safely as possible,” Jason Hollifield, storm director for Duke Energy in the Carolinas said. “We’re also bringing in thousands of additional resources to help with power restorations in the hardest hit areas.”

Members of the U.S. Coast Guard helped stranded boaters to safety after their vessel was caught in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene on Friday.

The boaters ran into trouble after their vessel became disabled and began taking on water in Gasparilla Pass, located about 75 miles south of Tampa. Both seafarers were transported back to the mainland without "reported medical concerns,” according to the Coast Guard.

Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn) announced that all people stranded on an Erwin, Tennessee hospital roof were rescued in a post on X. More than 50 people fleeing rising floodwaters in the rural community were stranded on the hospital’s roof for hours.

Information on the condition of the patients and staff were not immediately available.  

Cocke County, Tennessee, Mayor Rob Mathis called on residents to “relocate immediately” after the Waterview Dam suffered "catastrophic failure."

All of downtown Newport, Tennessee, is under an evacuation order, News Channel 11 reports.

North Carolina is urging residents who live below the Lake Lure dam to evacuate as the dam's structural supports have been "compromised."

"Structural supports have been compromised but the Dam wall is currently holding," Rutherford County, NC, Emergency Management wrote on Facebook.

Authorities in North Carolina are going door to door asking residents to evacuate in the event the dam overflows.

Helene has been downgraded to a tropical depression, the National Hurricane Center said.

The storm is still producing "historic and catastrophic flooding" in the South, according to the agency.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Tropical Storm Helene, which made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane, destroyed buildings that survived Hurricanes Idalia and Debbie.

"Areas that were hit in Idalia and Debbie said that this was more extensive than both combined, so I think you’re gonna see buildings that survived those two storms didn’t make this storm," DeSantis said at an afternoon news conference.

The damage wrought by Tropical Storm Helene, which made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane, was the "worst" a Florida resident has ever seen.

“I was in shock. This is the worst I’ve ever seen here,” Florida resident Susie Grant told NBC News.

“I’m glad I left, but I’m glad I still have a house.”

Grant was inspecting the damage suffered by her home, which she says she and her husband built over six years.

“Well, it’s got mud and all that, and everything’s been floating around, and it’s probably about 18 inches (of water) in the house,” she said. 

“I’m gonna rebuild. That’s all I can do."

Over 50 patients and staff are trapped on the roof of Unicoi County Hospital in Tennessee as Tropical Storm Helene, which made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane, as heavy rains flooded the roads beneath, NBC News 5 reports.

Fifty-four people were on the roof as of 12:27 p.m. and seven were in rescue boats as emergency workers attempted to get the individuals to safety.

The roads are impassable due to flooding, and several ambulances were destroyed.

Helicopters have been deployed to rescue the the staff and patients trapped on the roof, according to the Virginia State Police. 23 have been rescued so far, WJHL reports.

Ballad Health, which operates the hospital, said it "has been engulfed by extremely dangerous and rapidly moving water,” a press release.

Tropical Storm Helene continues to devastate the south as millions are without power and 26 are dead.

President Biden approved multiple emergency declarations in several southern states.

Rescue efforts in Atlanta are ongoing.