Hurricane Helene has moved significantly inland since making landfall in Florida’s Big Bend as a Category 4 storm on Thursday, and had crossed the Georgia border into Tennessee as of late Friday morning, bringing "historic and catastrophic flooding" to the southern Appalachians.
Flood waters inundate the main street in Tarpon Springs, Florida after Hurricane Helene passed ... [+]
The center of Helene, which has been downgraded to a tropical storm since making landfall, was located about 100 miles east of Chattanooga, Tennessee, as of 10:30 a.m. EDT on Friday, the National Hurricane Center said, with maximum sustained winds of 45 mph.
Heavy rain is falling over portions of the central and southern Appalachians and the region can expect total rain accumulations of 6 to 12 inches, with isolated totals around 20 inches.
Flash flood emergencies are in effect for Atlanta, much of upstate South Carolina and western North Carolina, including the Raleigh and Fayetteville, North Carolina, areas.
Tornadoes are possible Friday through parts of eastern Georgia, the Carolinas and southern Virginia, and tropical storm conditions are expected to persist along the Georgia and South Carolina coasts.
Mandatory evacuations have been ordered in Asheville and McDowell counties in North Carolina as rivers and reservoirs are expected to swell from heavy rainfall, and multiple schools in Kentucky and Indiana are closed Friday as winds and heavy rain pelt the region.
Helene is expected to slow soon and and stall over the Tennessee Valley tonight and through the weekend.
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Hurricane Helene made landfall at around 11:10 p.m. EDT on Thursday near the city of Perry in Florida’s Big Bend area. The storm moved through Florida and Georgia, leaving at least 20 people dead, according to The New York Times. Seven deaths have been confirmed in Florida, at least two by drowning; 11 in Georgia and two in North Carolina.
Roughly 4 million people are without power across Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia. Almost 2 million people across North and South Carolina are without electricity, as well as 1 million in Georgia and another 1 million in Florida, according to PowerOutage.US numbers as of 12:30 p.m. EDT.
The Tampa International Airport closed to the public at 2 a.m. EDT Thursday in anticipation of Hurricane Helene but resumed operations Friday morning. The storm didn’t cause any significant damage to the airport. Hundreds of flights have been either canceled or delayed due to the storm, impacting airports like Charlotte Douglas International Airport, Greenville–Spartanburg International Airport and Asheville Regional Airport, according to FlightAware.
Helene is the eighth named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season and comes weeks after Francine made landfall as a Category 2 in Louisiana on Sept. 11. Forecasters this year predicted the busiest storm season (from June 1 to Nov. 30) the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has ever forecasted—up to 25 named storms and 13 hurricanes—but the season hasn't been as active as predicted so far.