TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV/AP/Gray News) – At least one person was killed in Florida as Helene made landfall as a Category 4 storm Thursday night.
The hurricane center said Helene roared ashore around 11:10 p.m. Thursday 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.
Gov. Ron DeSantis said in a press conference just after 11 p.m. Thursday that at least one Floridian died due to Helene.
DeSantis said the person died in Tampa when a sign crashed on their car on the highway.
“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,” DeSantis said at the news conference.
Two other people were reported killed in a possible tornado in south Georgia as the storm approached. Wheeler County Sheriff Randy Rigdon told WMAZ-TV the possible tornado hit a mobile home Thursday night.
One person was killed when a tree fell on a home in North Carolina as impacts of Helene ramped up in the area. According to WBTV, it happened at about 5 a.m. Friday. Another person in the home was taken to the hospital with life-threatening injuries. Firefighters said there were children in the home but they were not injured.
Helene weakened to a tropical storm over Georgia with maximum sustained winds of 70 mph early Friday, the National Hurricane Center said.
Helene is the eighth named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, which began June 1. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has predicted an above-average Atlantic hurricane season this year because of record-warm ocean temperatures.
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