HOUSTON, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- Up to 54 people were rescued on Friday from the roof of a flooded hospital in the southern U.S. state of Tennessee after tropical storm Helene battered the country's southeast region.

Unicoi County Sheriff Mike Hensley told local media that he watched helicopters descend on the roof of the Unicoi County Hospital after floodwaters rose so quickly that authorities couldn't even get boats near the hospital.

"It was chaotic. We couldn't get to them in boats, we had high winds and water rushing around the hospital," Hensley said.

Hurricane Helene hit Florida's Big Bend area Thursday night as a Category 4 storm. Though it has weakened to a tropical storm after landfall, it has so far caused the death of more than 40 people.

The storm is estimated to have caused 15 billion to 26 billion U.S. dollars in property damage, said an AP report, citing Moddy's Analytics.

U.S. President Joe Biden has approved emergency declarations in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Alabama before the landfall of the hurricane. Enditem

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