Cleaning up after a hurricane or other storm is exhausting but necessary. If you're doing it yourself, here are a few tips to make it a bit easier.

Dry the house out as soon as possible. Use a wet-dry vacuum or water pump to remove standing water, then fans and dehumidifiers to remove excess moisture. Fans should be placed to blow air out of the house, to prevent mold from spreading.

Hurricane Helene flooded properties and devastated buildings in recent days as it tore across a vast stretch from Florida to Tennessee. Over the coming days and weeks, households will start to rebuild -- and the costs will be enormous.

Federal, state and local officials have warned that the death total will rise in East Tennessee from flooding caused by Hurricane Helene.

Hurricane Helene inundated parts of Florida, Georgia, Tennessee and the Carolinas, and now the estimated billions in damage are bringing Americans’ receding flood-insurance coverage into focus.

Meteorologists are monitoring a disturbance in the Gulf of Mexico that will bring rain to the Florida peninsula later this week.