Helene knocks top U.S. climate data center offline

Zoom in: According to NOAA, which runs NCEI, the building in Asheville currently has electricity but no running water, and won't be fully occupied until services are restored.

• In a statement to Axios, NOAA also said the center's network connection is down, an outage expected to last days.
• The first task for climate scientists and meteorologists at NCEI is making sure their colleagues are safe in the wake of the deadly storm.

What they're saying: "The NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) team is still working to account for all of its employees and staff, however, this is difficult due to the lack of reliable phone and internet connections. Even those who are physically safe are generally without power, water or connectivity," NOAA said in a statement.

• "The data center is currently shut down," the agency said, adding: "Our thoughts are with the people across western North Carolina and the region, and all of those who will deal with disruptions in their community for a long time."