Although Helene has weakened in strength as it rips across the Southeastern United States, the storm still poses concerns, with its intense winds knocking out power and leaving many people stranded across several states.
The storm made landfall as a Category 4 Hurricane in Florida’s Big Bend around 11:10 p.m. on Thursday, becoming the largest storm to ever hit the region. Hours later, Helene weakened to a tropical storm with sustained winds falling to 70 mph.
Since making landfall, Helene has caused at least 200 flash flooding warnings in Florida and in regions of South Carolina, Georgia, North Carolina, and Virginia. At least 50 people have been killed.
Here’s an update on the storm and its aftermath:
Dam risk in Tennessee
Flooding caused by Helene has reached as far as Tennessee, prompting an imminent dam break warning and flash flood emergency in Cocke, Greene, and Hamblen counties. Those warnings have been extended until noon Eastern on Saturday.
The dam break has been issued on the Nolichucky River below the Nolichucky Dam, and it threatens more than 5,800 residents. The warning was issued after the dam sustained cracks from rising water levels caused by Helene.
The warning comes as several rivers in the Blue Ridge Mountains of western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee have risen rapidly over the last two days. It could take days for those water levels to recede under critical levels.
If the dam breaks, the flooding could result in “an extremely dangerous and life-threatening situation,” according to the National Weather Service.
At least 50 people died, including first responders
Fifty people across four states have died so far due to Helene, including at least one first responder, according to the National Weather Service.
Of those casualties, 19 occurred in South Carolina. At least six of those were caused by trees falling on people, and details surrounding the other deaths are not yet known. Two firefighters have been killed.
At least 15 people have died in Georgia, with at least one of those being a first responder, according to Gov. Brian Kemp (R-GA). Seven people have died in Florida and two in North Carolina.
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Millions still without power
Even as the storm weakens, millions of people are still without power. As of Saturday, more than 3.3 million customers are without power in South Carolina, Georgia, North Carolina, Florida, and Ohio, according to PowerOutage.us.
A majority of those outages are in South Carolina, as more than 1 million customers are reported to be without power.
