FOX Weather
Hurricane Helene made landfall in Florida’s Big Bend region as a catastrophic Category 4 storm Thursday night, lashing the region with devastating winds around 140 mph and causing at least three deaths.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Helene continues to weaken and is now a tropical storm after it made landfall along Florida’s Big Bend region late Thursday night as a powerful Category 4 hurricane, unleashing deadly effects on the Southeast including destructive hurricane-force wind gusts, an “unsurvivable” storm surge and torrential, flooding rain.
Helene made landfall about 10 miles west-southwest of Perry, Florida, at 11:10 p.m. ET Thursday with impacts felt hundreds of miles away. At least two deaths were reported in Wheeler County, Georgia, where a mobile home was damaged during one of the many Tornado Warnings. In Florida, at least one person was killed in a crash on Interstate 4 in the Tampa area that involved a highway sign on top of a car.
The hurricane‘s storm surge was significant enough to trigger water rescues from the Big Bend to Southwest Florida, and mobile homes were even said to be floating in the coastal town of Steinhatchee.
Flash flooding is now becoming the greatest threat from Helene as it races across the Southeast, with torrential rain lashing parts of Georgia and the western Carolinas. A Flash Flood Emergency was issued early Friday morning for Haywood County in western North Carolina after 6-10 inches of rain had fallen with more on the way.
A three-hour radar loop showing where showers and thunderstorms are ongoing. Severe Thunderstorm Warnings are indicated in yellow. Tornado Warnings are indicated in red, while Tornado Warnings with a confirmed tornado are indicated in purple. Flash Flood Warnings are indicated in green, while Flash Flood Emergencies are indicated in pink.(FOX Weather)
Power outages climbed to about 1.3 million in Florida early Friday morning after wind gusts neared or even exceeded hurricane-force strength. A 99-mph wind gust was reported in Perry, Florida, about 10 miles from where Hurricane Helene made landfall. St. Petersburg recorded an 82 mph gust, while Sarasota saw a 74-mph wind gust.
Significant outages are also being reported in Georgia, where over a half-million customers were without power early Friday morning. Winds have gusted as high as 100 mph in Alma, 88 mph in Valdosta and 76 mph in Savannah.
This graphic shows current power outages related to Hurricane Helene.(FOX Weather)
And farther south in a community called Sunset Beach, local fire rescue said it would no longer respond to calls for service due to the flooding.
Clearwater Beach reported its highest surge since at least the Superstorm of 1993, with a level of more than 7 feet…
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