Dolly Parton announces $1m donation to Hurricane Helene recovery

Music icon Dolly Parton has announced she will make a personal donation of $1m (£762,000) towards disaster recovery efforts in the wake of Hurricane Helene.

Speaking at an event in her home state of Tennessee on Friday, the 78-year-old said the money would come "from my own bank account".

Parton's local commercial ventures - including the Dollywood amusement park - would also donate the same amount to the Mountain Ways Foundation, which is aiding those affected by flooding in the region.

During her remarks, Parton broke into song, singing "Helene, Helene" to the tune of her 1973 hit Jolene.

At least 225 people have died due to Helene, which tore through the south-east US in late September.

Helene is the deadliest mainland storm since Katrina in 2005.

Making landfall as a category four hurricane, Helene damaged structures, caused flash flooding and knocked out power to millions of homes. Over half a million properties remain without electricity as of Saturday.

The US government has said the clean-up effort could take years.

While a large proportion of the deaths occurred in North Carolina, others have been recorded in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia.

"This is my home," Parton said at Friday's news conference, which took place outside a Walmart store in Newport, Tennessee.

"God has been good to me and so has the public, and I feel that if there's anything I can do to give back in any way I can I'm always willing to do that. I want to feel like I'm doing my part."

Explaining that many of her relatives lived in the area, the singer said: "I was heartbroken like everybody else, and just amazed and devastated by it."

She added: "All these people feel like my people."

Eleven people have so far been confirmed dead in Tennessee due to the storm, according to the latest official tally, with more still unaccounted for.

At least two factory workers were swept away by floodwaters in Erwin, in the north-east of the state.

Parton, when asked what her message to victims was, responded: "I know it's easy for us to say, 'oh, things are going to get better' when things are still really bad."

"All we can say is that we are with you, that we love you, we hope that things get better real soon - and we're going to do our part to try and make that possible."

Coinciding with the news conference, Walmart announced it was increasing its recovery efforts funding to $10m (£7.6m).

The supermarket chain's CEO, John Furner, said: "These aren’t just places where we have stores. These are communities where we work and live."

He also described Parton as "a true American legend - and not just for the music, the art, the business, but because of her heart".

The country music singer-songwriter has previously made large donations in response to life-changing events.

In 2016, her charity pledged to donate $1,000 a month to families affected by wildfires in Tennessee.

And in 2020, she contributed $1m towards the development of one of the Covid-19 vaccines.