Helene slams into Florida, widespread damage and impacts grow | PHOTOS
Helene made landfall in Florida's Big Bend region late Thursday as one of the most powerful hurricanes to hit the state. Damage and impacts are widespread.
Hurricane Helene grew into a powerful Category 4 storm before making landfall near Perry, Florida, on Thursday evening.
Widespread hurricane warnings and tropical storm warnings were issued for hundreds of kilometres inland from the point of landfall.
Despite weakening to a tropical storm early Friday, Helene's sheer size and swift forward motion will push damaging winds toward the cities of Atlanta, Georgia; Greenville, S.C.; and Charlotte, N.C., through the day Friday. Life-threatening storm surge and heavy rains will continue.
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More than 900,000 customers were without power across Florida as of 11:30 p.m. local time on Thursday. By early Friday morning that number grew to over one million. Water sensors in Cedar Key, Fla., measured nearly 2.5 metres of storm surge as the storm made landfall Thursday evening.
The National Weather Service (NWS) for Greenville-Spartanburg, S.C., issued a chilling statement on Thursday, saying "This will be one of the most significant weather events to happen in the western portions of the area in the modern era."
The NWS also added that landslides are likely around the mountains and foothills of Georgia and the Carolinas.
"We plead with everyone that you take every single weather warning very seriously through the entirety of this event as impacts will be life-threatening and make sure to have multiple ways to receive the alerts."
Videos of crashing waves, gusting winds, and flooding are making their way onto social media. Helene was also expected to cause mass flight cancellations and delays in airports across the United States.
The Associated Press has reported at least four Helene-related deaths as of Friday morning. One individual in Florida was killed when a sign fell on their car, while two others died in south Georgia as a possible tornado hit the area. Additionally, a person in Charlotte, North Carolina, passed away when a tree fell on a home during the storm on Friday.
Here's a look at some of Helene's dangerous and destructive impacts so far.
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Thumbnail image taken by David Hodge/TWN.
