Floodwaters surround a home after Hurricane Helene on Friday in Crystal River, Fla.
Phelan M. Ebenhack/AP
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Phelan M. Ebenhack/AP
Forecasters said Helene weakened to a post-tropical storm by Friday evening but continued to cause “catastrophic” flooding in the southeastern United States and southern Appalachia.
The National Hurricane Center said life-threatening flooding and mudslides in areas of southern Appalachia were expected to continue into the evening.
Strong wind gusts still hit parts of Georgia, the Carolinas, Tennessee and Kentucky.
As it moves on a northwest track, Helene is expected to slow down and then cross the Tennessee Valley late Friday, according to forecasters.
“Slow movement is expected to result in significant flooding across the Ohio and Tennessee Valleys as well as the southern Appalachia throughout the weekend,” the center said in a late morning update.
In an evening update from the National Hurricane Center, maximum sustained winds were moving at 25 mph. The storm made landfall Thursday evening in Florida’s Big Bend region — which connects the Panhandle and the peninsula in the northwest of the state — as a Category 4 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 140 mph.
The National Weather Service said preliminary modeling after landfall showed storm surge reaching heights of 15 feet above ground level in the Big Bend area near Keaton Beach, Steinhatchee and Horseshoe Beach.
Flooding concerns have shifted to western North Carolina, where up to 11 inches of rain are expected.
The death toll in 5 states reached 44 people
At least 44 people in 5 states died as a result of the storm, the Associated Press reported. As emergency teams sifted through the rubble, officials in several states said they expected the storm’s death toll to rise.
While the worst of the storm is over for many in the Southeast, officials still warn residents to stay vigilant in its aftermath amid dangerous conditions, such as flooded roads flooded and full of debris.
Storm surge reached more than 5 feet along Florida’s Gulf Coast Thursday evening. Andrew Swan, 31, rode out the storm in Madeira Beach, Fla., watching over a friend’s house. He told WUSF Water flooded into the house up to his chest, he had to sleep all night on the kitchen counter, with his feet up on the stove.
West of Tampa, officials in Pinellas County described the wreckage scene there as a “war zone.”
Five Floridians were confirmed dead in county, at least two people drowned, the sheriff’s office said.
High winds and tornadoes were also the cause of some deaths. Gov. Ron DeSantis said one person died on a highway in Tampa due to a falling sign. Another person died after a tree fell on their home in Dixie County.
A tree fell along Margret Mitchell Drive in the Buckhead area of Atlanta on Friday.
Jason Allen/AP/FR172026 AP
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Jason Allen/AP/FR172026 AP
The majority of the deaths were in Georgia and the Carolinas, some of them from falling trees.
In South Carolina, 19 people died, including two firefighters who died when a tree fell on their truck, local officials told the AP.
In Georgia, the death toll is 15, according to a spokesman for Governor Brian Kemp. Local CBS station 13WMAZ reported that at least two children were among the dead. Two Georgians died in Wheeler County once their trailer is selected by a tornado, an emergency management official said.
In North Carolina, Helene produced unusually strong winds – up to 140 mph – over land, the strongest observed in coastal North Carolina since modern meteorological record keeping began in the 19th century.
leaving four people in critical condition
Virginia had one death due to the storm after a tree fell and a building collapsed in Craig County, Governor Glenn Youngkin said.
Record rainfall in southern Appalachia
Heavy rain from Helene set a record in Atlanta Record high 48-hour rainfall in the past two days the Georgia Climate Office tweeted on Friday, the area received 11.12 inches of rain, beating the previous record of 9.59 set in 1886. Record keeping began in 1878.
In North Carolina, total precipitation Friday afternoon was overwhelming: 29.58 inches for Busick, NC; 2420 for nearby Mount Mitchell State Park; about 13 inches in Boone, about 55 miles away.
The storm dropped more than 8 inches of rain in Wilmington and caused severe damage to coastal homes and small buildings as well as agricultural fields.
Along with flooding, persistent rains have created landslides in western North Carolina. WFAE member station report. The National Weather Service predicted 6 to 12 inches of water for the area, well above the mudslide threshold for the area.
In Tennessee, more than 50 patients and staff have been stuck on the roof of Unicoi District Hospital in Erwin, as flood waters rose Friday morning. By afternoon, they were finally rescued.
Heavy rain flooded western North Carolina
Rising lake and river levels as well as flooding due to rapid rainfall causing officials to close all roads in western North Carolina on Friday.
North Carolina Department of Transportation warn drivers to stay off the road except in the event of an emergency or an evacuation attempt to higher ground.
Meanwhile, the National Weather Service issued an emergency warning via callout Friday afternoon. Is anyone below the Lure Lake Dam near Ashville had to be immediately evacuated to higher ground following fears that the nearly century-old dam could burst.
Brigadier General Daniel Hibner of the Army Corps of Engineers said dam failures can happen during flash floods like this. “It is not unusual to see a dam failure during an event like this,” he said at a news conference. “I would be surprised if there aren’t more (dam failures) throughout this area.”
However, the dam remained intact until Friday evening. In a 6 p.m. ET update on social media, Rutherford County officials said The water level in the lake began to recede.
Lake Lure is famous for being the backdrop for several scenes in the 1987 film Dirty dancing.
Helene lost the power of millions
More than 4 million homes and businesses were without power Friday afternoon in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina, according to blackout.us. By nightfall, that number had dropped to about 3.7 million.
Meanwhile, NHC warns about the possibility of prolonged power outages in southeastern states.
For those who rely on generators for power, consumer safety officials advise people keep them at least 20 feet away from their homes to avoid deadly carbon monoxide poisoning. Improper use of portable generators leading to more deaths more related to 2020’s Hurricane Laura than the storm itself.
