Authorities rescued people trapped by floodwaters and more than 3 million customers were in the dark across much of the southeastern U.S. as Hurricane Helene weakened to a tropical storm over Georgia early Friday after making landfall overnight in northwestern Florida as a Category 4 storm.
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Helene came ashore amid warnings from the National Hurricane Center that the enormous system could create a "nightmare" storm surge. There were at least four storm-related deaths.
Video on social media sites showed sheets of rain coming down in Perry, Florida, near where Helene made landfall, and siding being torn off buildings. One local news station showed a home that had flipped over. The community and much of surrounding Taylor County were without power.
In Citrus County, some 120 miles south of Perry, first responders were out in boats early Friday to rescue people trapped by the flooding.
"If you are trapped and need help please call for rescuers – DO NOT TRY TO TREAD FLOODWATERS YOURSELF," the sheriff's office warned in a Facebook post. The water may contain live wires, sewage, sharp objects and other debris, they posted.
DOWNGRADED
With maximum sustained winds of 70 mph, Helene continued to weaken while moving farther inland over Georgia. The storm was about 40 miles east of Macon and about 100 miles southeast of Atlanta, moving north at 30 mph at 5 a.m., the hurricane center in Miami reported.
"We expect it to weaken further. It's going to turn northward and turn northwestward and eventually move into Tennessee and Kentucky, and merge with a funnel system up in that area," said Jack Beven, a senior hurricane specialist at the National Hurricane Center.
The storm should continue to weaken Friday afternoon, with winds dropping below 40 mph, but it will still produce widespread heavy rain over the Appalachian Mountains with the possibility of mudslides and flash flooding, Beven said.
The hurricane center said Helene roared ashore around 11:10 p.m. Thursday near the mouth of the Aucilla River in the Big Bend area of Florida's Gulf Coast. It had maximum sustained winds estimated at 140 mph. That location was only about 20 miles northwest of where Hurricane Idalia came ashore last year at nearly the same ferocity and caused widespread damage.
The hurricane's eye passed near Valdosta, Georgia, as the storm churned rapidly north into Georgia Thursday night. The National Hurricane Center issued an extreme wind warning for the area, meaning possible hurricane-force winds exceeding 115 mph.
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Payne reported from Tallahassee, Florida, and Hollingsworth reported from Kansas City, Missouri. Associated Press journalists Seth Borenstein in New York, Jeff Amy in Atlanta, Russ Bynum in Valdosta, Georgia, Danica Coto in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Andrea Rodríguez in Havana, Mark Stevenson and María Verza in Mexico City and Claire Rush in Portland, Oregon, contributed to this report.
