Florida is reporting three deaths in the wake of Hurricane Helene’s monster landfall near Perry in the state’s Big Bend region including a person killed in Ybor City near Tampa when a sign fell on their car.
“We did report that there was a traffic fatality last night. We can also this morning report there was a fatality in Dixie County due to a tree falling on a home due to the storm, Gov. Ron DeSantis said during a Friday morning news conference.
In Georgia, EMA Director Bill Laird told WMAZ that 4 people in the state were killed. One person died after a tree fell on a house and another died in a car crash. He said they’ve had at least 140 “tree down” calls throughout the night.
Two more people died after a suspected tornado flipped a mobile home. Wheeler County EMA director Steve Adams says the two people were found in a field about 100 yards from where their mobile home was located before the storm roared in.
Multiple flash flood emergencies have been issued across Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina amid extreme rainfall from Helene, including in downtown Atlanta. Over 5 inches of rain have fallen in the city over the past 12 hours, and over 11 inches has fallen since Tuesday.
The National Weather Service warned this is a “particularly dangerous situation” and people in the city should seek higher ground. The heaviest rain from Helene is currently falling over South Carolina and North Carolina, with some towns almost completely underwater.
In Hendersonville, North Carolina, located about 90 miles west of Charlotte, one of the main roads looked more like a lake due to the extreme rainfall. Experts strongly advise people to avoid floodwaters, as you cannot see what lies beneath the surface, and the water may contain sewage and drainage system overflow.
