[Source: Reuters]

The death toll from Hurricane Helene has inched up to 227 as the grim task of recovering bodies continues more than a week after the monster storm ravaged the southeast US, killing people in six states.

Helene came ashore on on September 26 as a Category 4 hurricane and carved a wide swathe of destruction as it moved northward from Florida, washing away homes, destroying roads and knocking out electricity and mobile phone service for millions.

The number of deaths stood at 225 on Friday; two more were recorded in South Carolina the following day. It’s still unclear how many people are unaccounted for or missing, and the toll could rise even higher.

Helene is the deadliest hurricane to hit the mainland US since Katrina in 2005. About half the victims were in North Carolina, while dozens more were killed in Georgia and South Carolina.

The city of Asheville, in the western mountains of North Carolina, was particularly battered.

A week later workers used brooms and heavy machinery to clean mud and dirt outside of New Belgium Brewing Company, which lies next to the French Broad River and is among thousands of city businesses and households affected.

So far North Carolinians have received more than $US27 million ($A40m) in individual assistance approved by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said MaryAnn Tierney, a regional administrator for the agency.

More than 83,000 people have registered for individual assistance.

In Buncombe County, where Asheville is located, FEMA-approved assistance has surpassed $US12 million ($A18m) for survivors, Tierney said on Saturday.

“This is critical assistance that will help people with their immediate needs, as well as displacement assistance that helps them if they can’t stay in their home,” she said.

Helene’s raging floodwaters shocked mountain towns hundreds of kilometres inland and far from where the storm made landfall on Florida’s Gulf Coast, including in the Tennessee mountains that Dolly Parton calls home.

The country music star has announced a $US1 million ($A1.5m) donation to the Mountain Ways Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to providing immediate assistance to Hurricane Helene flood victims.

In addition, her East Tennessee businesses as well as the Dollywood Foundation are combining efforts, pledging to match her donation to Mountain Ways with a $US1 million contribution.

Parton said she feels a close connection to the storm victims because so many of them “grew up in the mountains just like I did”.

“I can’t stand to see anyone hurting, so I wanted to do what I could to help after these terrible floods,” she said.