***Update: Hurricane Helene weakened into a tropical depression on Friday after making landfall overnight in northwestern Florida as a Category 4 storm. At least 30 people in four states have died.
Authorities continue to rescue people trapped by floodwaters and millions were without power across much of the southeastern U.S.
A mudslide and floodwaters wash out interstate at the North Carolina-Tennessee state line
A mudslide and record floodwaters from the remnants of Hurricane Helene washed out a section of an interstate highway at the North Carolina-Tennessee state line, transportation officials said.
Photos and video posted on social media showed at least one lane of I-40 had collapsed above the swollen Pigeon River.
The Tennessee Department of Transportation said the interstate was closed in both directions.
The National Weather Service said a flash flood warning continued for the Pigeon River, which crested Friday morning about 3 feet (1 meter) above its previous record level set by the remnants of Hurricane Ivan in September 2004.
CRAWFORDVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Hurricane Helene left an enormous path of destruction across Florida and the entire southeastern U.S. on Friday, killing at least 25 people in four states, snapping trees like twigs, tearing apart homes and sending rescue crews on desperate missions to save people from floodwaters.
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp said dozens of people were still trapped in buildings damaged by the Category 4 hurricane. The storm had maximum sustained winds of 140 mph (225 kph) when it made landfall late Thursday in a sparsely populated region in Florida's rural Big Bend area, home to fishing villages and vacation hideaways where Florida’s Panhandle and peninsula meet.
But the damage extended hundreds of miles to the north, with flooding as far away as North Carolina, where a lake used in the movie “Dirty Dancing” overtopped a dam. Multiple hospitals in southern Georgia were without power, and one in Tennessee was closed.
Authorities were “having a hard time getting to places" so teams with chainsaws were "working to free up roads,” Kemp told a news conference.
The efforts of Florida's 1,500 search-and-rescue personnel will be concentrated on securing and stabilizing affected communities through the weekend, said Kevin Guthrie, the state's emergency operations director. The Category 4 storm made landfall on the Northwest Florida coast late Thursday, but it created flooding from storm surge all along the state's Gulf Coast.
“As those sorts of rescue missions happen today, and continue, please do not go out and visit the impacted areas,” Guthrie said Friday morning at a news conference in the Florida capital of Tallahassee. “I beg of you, do not get in their way.”
The reported rescues ranged from life-threatening situations to people trapped in their homes by waist-high water and unable to flee on their own.
Five people died in Pinellas County and dozens were rescued after the storm surge hit an unprecedented 8 feet (2.4 meters), forcing some to seek shelter in their attics. Sheriff Bob Gualtieri said the deaths all occurred in neighborhoods where authorities told residents to evacuate, but many residents ignored the warnings.
He said survivors told deputies they didn’t believe the warnings after other residents told them the surge wouldn’t be that bad.
***Update: Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp said at least 11 people in his state were killed and dozens are still trapped in homes damaged by Helene. At least six others died in Florida and the Carolinas.
The storm made landfall late Thursday in a sparsely populated region with maximum sustained winds of 140 mph (225 kph) in the rural Big Bend area, home to fishing villages and vacation hideaways where Florida’s Panhandle and peninsula meet. But the damage extended hundreds of miles to the north, with flooding as far away as North Carolina, where a lake used in scenes from the movie “Dirty Dancing” overtopped a dam. Multiple hospitals in southern Georgia were without power.
“Thank God we’re both alive to tell about it,” Rhonda Bell said after a towering oak tree outside her home in Valdosta, Georgia, smashed through the roof.
County officials immediately launched boats to reach stranded people, warning that the water could contain live wires, sewage, sharp objects and other debris.
“If you are trapped and need help please call for rescuers – DO NOT TRY TO TREAD FLOODWATERS YOURSELF,” the sheriff’s office in Citrus County, Florida, warned in a Facebook post, while raising concerns that the tide could bring another surge of up to 10 feet (3.05 meters).
Rescuers in Tampa also used boats to reach stranded residents. “Flooding was what we had warned everyone about,” Mayor Jane Castor said.
More than 4 million homes and businesses were without power Friday morning in Florida, Georgia and South Carolina, according to poweroutage.us, which tracks utility reports.
(earlier)
Hurricane Helene weakened into a tropical storm over Georgia early Friday after making landfall overnight in northwestern Florida as a Category 4 storm. Authorities rescued people trapped by floodwaters and more than 3 million customers were in the dark across much of the southeastern U.S.
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.
More than 50 swift-water rescues conducted in western North Carolina county
ASHEVILLE, N.C. — In North Carolina, more than 50 swift-water rescues were conducted from floodwaters in Buncombe County.
“This is the most significant natural disaster that any one of us has ever seen in western North Carolina,” said Ryan Cole, the county’s assistant emergency services director.
Cole said during a briefing that road washouts and closures prevented authorities from responding to some emergency calls. In Asheville, crews were trying to get to a mudslide involving four homes and an undetermined number of people were unaccounted for, he said.
Historic building collapses in downtown Savannah
ATLANTA — A historic building partially collapsed in downtown Savannah as Helene moved through the city.
The Savannah Fire Department says the third story of the three-story brick building collapsed into the second floor after 2 a.m. Friday morning. The top two floors hold apartments, while the bottom floor is home to the Ordinary Pub on Broughton Street, one of the main commercial streets in the city’s historic downtown.
No injuries were reported, but fire officials declared the building unsafe to enter.