By John Schwing

WESTPORT — More than 220 people dead … and counting.

Hillside towns swept away by unprecedented flooding and landslides.

A trail of destruction stretching from northwest Florida, through Georgia and South Carolina, into western North Carolina.

The deadly toll and sweeping devastation wreaked by Hurricane Helene on the nation’s Southeast has yet to be fully measured as search-and-recovery operations continue.

Westport is doing its part to help, last week deploying three firefighters and a police officer with a regional team of emergency responders to help rescue and relief efforts in the hill country of North Carolina.

In an update on their activities Sunday, posted on the Fire Department’s Facebook page, members of the local team reported they delivered a mobile cell unit to the mountainside town of Broad River to re-establish communications. They also helped resolve communications problems at a field hospital, “ensuring critical care could continue.”

Now, the wider community is being asked to pitch in.

Trucks — stocked with relief supplies for hurricane victims — are being organized by a coalition of Rotary groups around the state, including the Westport Rotary and Westport Sunrise Rotary.

Trucks to collect donations are expected to be in Westport at the Stop & Shop supermarket, 1790 Post Road East, at about 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 8.

Volunteers from both local Rotary clubs will be on hand starting about 9 a.m. Tuesday to assist with preparations and collect donations from the public.

Goods that are needed include: 

Food: Canned or packaged foods with a shelf life, particularly ramen, pasta and rice, baby food and formula, sports drinks, shelf-stable milk and water. Also, pet food, cat litter and feed for farm animals such as chickens, goats and horses.

Household and personnel products: Toilet paper, paper towels, paper plates, plastic utensils, feminine hygiene products, baby diapers, first-aid supplies, disinfectant sprays and insect repellent.

Tools and equipment: Batteries of all kinds including for vehicles, small generators, heavy-duty extension cords, gas and diesel fuel, propane, chains and sharpeners, tents, cots, sleeping bags and hay.