A weakened Helene brings 'catastrophic' flooding as it crosses southern Appalachians

Updated September 27, 2024 at 22:18 PM ET

Helene weakened to a post-tropical cyclone on Friday evening but continued to unleash “catastrophic” flooding in the southeastern U.S. and southern Appalachians, forecasters said.

Life-threatening flooding and landslides in parts of southern Appalachia were expected to continue into the evening, the National Hurricane Center said.

Gusty winds were still lashing parts of Georgia, the Carolinas, Tennessee and Kentucky.

Carving a northwest path, Helene was expected to slow and then stall over the Tennessee Valley late Friday, according to forecasters.

“The expected slow motion could result in significant flooding over the Ohio and Tennessee Valleys, and over the southern Appalachians through the weekend,” the center said in a late morning update.

In an evening update from the National Hurricane Center, maximum sustained winds were moving at 25 mph. The storm made landfall Thursday night in Florida’s Big Bend region — the nexus of the Panhandle and peninsula in the state’s northwest — as a Category 4 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 140 mph.

Preliminary post-landfall modeling showed the storm surge reached 15 feet above ground level in the Big Bend area near Keaton Beach, Steinhatchee and Horseshoe Beach, the National Weather Service said.

Flooding concerns have shifted to western North Carolina, which was expected to receive up to 11 inches of rain.

Death toll across five states reaches 44 people

At least 44 people in five states have died as a result of the storm, the Associated Press reported. As emergency rescue crews comb through the wreckage, officials in several states said they expected the number of storm-related deaths to climb.

While the worst of the storm is over for many in the Southeast, officials are warning residents to stay vigilant in its aftermath amid hazardous conditions, such as flooded and debris-strewn roads.

The storm surge reached more than 5 feet along the Gulf Coast of Florida Thursday night. Andrew Swan, 31, rode out the storm in Madeira Beach, Fla., watching over a friend’s house. He told WUSF the water rushed into the house up to his chest, and he spent the night sleeping on a kitchen counter with his legs over the stove.

West of Tampa, officials in Pinellas County described the scenes of wreckage there as a “war zone.”

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Five Floridians were confirmed dead in the county, at least two from drownings, the sheriff’s office said.

Jason Allen/AP / FR172026 AP

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FR172026 AP

The high winds and tornadoes were also blamed for several deaths. Gov. Ron DeSantis said one person died on a highway in Tampa from a falling sign. Another person died after a tree fell on their home in Dixie County.

The majority of deaths were in Georgia and the Carolinas, several of them the result of falling trees.

In South Carolina, 19 people died, including two firefighters who died when a tree struck their truck, local officials told the AP.

In Georgia, the death toll was 15, according to a spokesperson for Gov. Brian Kemp. At least two children were among the dead, reported local CBS station 13WMAZ. Two Georgians died in Wheeler County after their trailer was picked up by a tornado, an emergency management official said.

In North Carolina, Helene produced unusually heavy winds — up to 140 mph — on land, the strongest observed in coastal North Carolina since the start of modern meteorological recordkeeping in the 19th century.

Gov. Roy Cooper confirmed

left four people in critical condition

Virginia had one storm-related death after a tree fell and a building collapsed in Craig County, Gov. Glenn Youngkin said.

Record-breaking rainfall in southern Appalachians

Heavy rains from Helene set a record in Atlanta, which received its highest 48-hour rainfall on record over the past two days. The Georgia Climate Office tweeted on Friday that the area has already seen 11.12 inches of rain, beating a previous record of 9.59 set in 1886. Record keeping started in 1878.

In North Carolina, the rainfall totals Friday afternoon were staggering: 29.58 inches for Busick, N.C.; 24.20 for nearby Mount Mitchell State Park; about 13 inches in Boone, some 55 miles away.

The storm dumped more than 8 inches of rain in Wilmington and wrought serious damage to coastal homes and small buildings, as well as agricultural fields.

Along with floods, the persistent rains have created landslide conditions in western North Carolina, as member station WFAE reported. The National Weather Prediction Center has forecast 6 to 12 inches for the region, well above the landslide condition threshold for the area.

In Tennessee, over 50 patients and staff were stuck on the roof of Unicoi County Hospital in Erwin, as floodwaters rose on Friday morning. By the afternoon, they were finally rescued.

Heavy rains inundate western North Carolina

Rising lakes and rivers as well as flooding from rapid rainfall led officials to close all roads in western North Carolina Friday.

The North Carolina Department of Transportation warned drivers to stay off the roads except for emergencies or efforts to evacuate to higher ground.

Meanwhile, the National Weather Service released an urgent warning through Friday afternoon urging anyone below the Lake Lure Dam near Ashville to evacuate immediately to higher ground, after concerns that the nearly century-old dam could fail.

Brigadier General Daniel Hibner with the Army Corps of Engineers said dam failures are to be expected in flash flooding events like this one. “It’s not uncommon to see a dam failure in an event like this,” he said at a press briefing. “I would be surprised if there weren’t multiple (dam failures) throughout this area.”

Yet the dam remained intact as of Friday evening. In a 6 p.m. ET update on social media, Rutherford County officials said the lake’s water levels were beginning to recede.

Lake Lure is famous for serving as a backdrop to several scenes in the 1987 film Dirty Dancing.

Helene knocked out power to millions

More than 4 million homes and businesses were without power on Friday afternoon in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina, according to poweroutage.us. By nightfall, that number had dipped to about 3.7 million.

Meanwhile, the NHC warned about the potential for long-lasting power outages in southeastern states.

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