Meanwhile, the East Tennessee Foundation activated its Neighbor to Neighbor Disaster Relief Fund, which is "exclusively being used in East Tennessee to empower local nonprofits and agencies to rescue and recover their own communities amid devastating impacts from Hurricane Helene," per its website.

Hurricane Helene has left a trail of destruction across the Southeast, triggering a massive relief effort in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee. Federal agencies, nonprofits and private sector organizations are racing to respond to impassable roads,

The death toll has risen to at least 175 across the Southeast since Hurricane Helene made landfall in Florida as a Category 4 storm last week, and hundreds are still missing amid the historic flooding.