FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Massive Hurricane Helene crashed into Florida’s sparsely populated Big Bend region, bringing storm surge and high winds across the state’s Gulf Coast communities before ripping into southern Georgia. Where is the storm now? has weakened to a tropical storm over Georgia with maximum sustained winds of 70 mph (110 kph) early Friday, the National Hurricane Center said.
The storm will continue to weaken as it continues to move north across Georgia. At 8 a.m.
, Helene was centered about 35 miles (60 kilometers) south-southwest of Clemson, South Carolina, and about 80 miles (130 kilometers) east-northeast of Atlanta, moving north at 30 mph (48 kph), the hurricane center in Miami reported. Helene wobbled as it approached Florida’s coast late Thursday before making landfall near the mouth of the Aucilla River with maximum sustained winds estimated at 140 mph (225 kph). That location was only about 20 miles (32 kilometers) northwest of where came ashore last year at nearly the same ferocity and caused widespread damage.
Evacuations were underway Friday morning in areas of Western North Carolina. The Haywood County Sheriff’s Office west of Asheville said it was helping with evacuations in in Cruso, Clyde, Canton and lower-lying parts of Waynesville. How many deaths have been reported? So far, The Associated Press has confirmed six deaths caused by Helene.
Gov. Ron DeSantis confirmed two in Florida. One person was hit by a falling sign in Tampa’s .
