ASHEVILLE, N.C. (AP) Desperate residents isolated by washed-out roads and the lack of power and cellular service in western North Carolina lined up Monday for fresh water and a chance to message loved ones that they were alive, days after Hurricane Helene tore through the Southeastern U.S. and killed more than 100 people.

Government officials and aid groups were working to bring basic supplies by airlift, truck and mule to the hard-hit tourism hub of Asheville and its surrounding mountain towns.

At least 121 deaths in six states have been attributed to the storm a toll that climbed Monday as a clearer picture emerged of the devastation it inflicted on an area stretching from Floridas Gulf Coast northward to the Appalachian Mountains in Virginia. The North Carolina county that includes Asheville reported at least 35 deaths, while dozens were also killed in Georgia and South Carolina.

North Carolinas governor, Roy Cooper, predicted the toll would rise as rescuers and other emergency workers reached areas isolated by collapsed roads, failing infrastructure and widespread flooding. During a briefing Monday, White House homeland security adviser Liz Sherwood-Randall suggested that as many as 600 people havent been accounted for, noting that some of them might be dead.

Many main routes into Asheville were washed away or blocked by mudslides, including Interstate 40, and the citys water system was severely damaged, forcing residents to scoop creek water into buckets so they could flush toilets.