Hurricane Helene live: Several dead as tropical storm batters Georgia and Florida after landfall
Death toll continues to rise after Helene slammed into Florida’s coast as a Category 4 hurricane, marking one of the most powerful storms to strike US in recent memory
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At least three people have died as Helene made landfall in Florida as a devastating Category 4 hurricane on Thursday evening, bringing “catastrophic” and “unsurvivable” conditions.
Helene hit Florida’s Big Bend region just after 11pm ET packing sustained winds of around 140 mph, the National Hurricane Center said. Wind speeds continued to fall across Friday morning, with Helene eventually being downgraded to a tropical storm as it continues to chart its course through Georgia.
Since making landfall, the storm has caused “record” flooding across the Gulf Coast, leaving approximately 2.1 million homes and businesses across Florida, Georgia, and the Carolinas under blackout conditions on Friday. Apart from Florida, Alabama, and parts of the Carolinas are also at risk of flooding.
The first death was confirmed by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, after a sign fell on a driver’s car in Tampa. Two more deaths were reported in Wheeler County late on Thursday, Georgia after a trailer was swept up by a tornado.
Helene’s size is massive compared to previous hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico, and is one of the largest storms in breadth to hit the region in years, with only three bigger since 1988.
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US Coast Guard rescued man, dog from sailboat during storm
US Coast Guard officials saved a man and his dog from drowning as Hurricane Helene made its way to Florida shores.
His 36ft sailboat became disabled and started taking on water 25 miles off of Sanibel Island in Lee County. The man and his dog are ok, a Coast Guard official wrote on X.
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