MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Hurricane Helene made landfall Thursday night in northwestern Florida as a Category 4 storm as forecasters warned that the enormous system could create a “nightmare” storm surge and bring dangerous winds and rain across much of the southeastern U.S.
The National Hurricane Center in Miami said Helene roared ashore around 11:10 p.m. EDT near the mouth of the Aucilla River in the Big Bend area of Florida’s Gulf Coast. It had maximum sustained winds estimated at 140 mph ( 225 kph).
Helene prompted hurricane and flash flood warnings extending far beyond the coast up into northern Georgia and western North Carolina. Before it made landfall, strong winds had already cut power to nearly 900,000 homes and businesses in Florida, according to the tracking site poweroutage.us. The governors of Florida, Georgia, Alabama, the Carolinas and Virginia all declared emergencies in their states.
One person was killed in Florida when a sign fell on their car and two people were reported killed in a possible tornado in south Georgia as the storm approached.
“When Floridians wake up tomorrow morning, we’re going to be waking up to a state where very likely there’s been additional loss of life and certainly there’s going to be loss of property," Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said at a news conference Thursday night.
The National Weather Service in Tallahassee had issued an “extreme wind warning” for the Big Bend as the eyewall approached: “Treat this warning like a tornado warning,” it said in a post on X. “Take shelter in the most interior room and hunker down!”
Memphis-area impacts
After landfall, the remnants of Hurricane Helene will continue northward through Georgia before turning westward through Tennessee and toward Memphis.
Rain from Helene will begin in Memphis late Thursday night and continue through much of the day Friday and Friday night. Rain totals will likely be 1 to 2 inches in much of the area, with some neighborhoods seeing up to 4 inches of rain in a 24 hour period.
The highest rain totals will likely be along and north of Interstate 40 through West Tennessee.
While some minor street flooding is possible, major flooding is not anticipated at this time.
For the latest Memphis-area forecast anytime, visit abc24.com/weather.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
