Family with baby rescued from stranded car
Firefighters rescued a family, including a baby, trapped in their car as flooding continued in Atlanta.
Fox – 5 Atlanta
After hitting northwest Florida and unleashing dangerous weather conditions across multiple states in the Southeast, Helene weakened to a tropical storm as it ripped through Georgia early Friday, but still caused life-threatening flooding in Atlanta and knocked out power for millions.
Helene made landfall at about 11:10 p.m. ET near Perry, Florida, on Thursday with 140-mph winds, making it the first known Category 4 storm to hit Florida’s Big Bend region since records began in 1851, USA TODAY reported. For several hours, the storm maintained hurricane strength as it pushed inland across northern Florida and into Georgia. At least six storm-related deaths have been reported in Florida, Georgia and North Carolina. Authorities across the Southeast were rescuing residents trapped in rising floodwaters as Helene soaked much of the region in torrential rain.
While Helene was downgraded into a tropical storm with sustained winds of 60 mph, as per to an 8 a.m. ET update by the National Hurricane Center, Atlanta is experiencing major flooding, and the city remains under a Flash Flood warning until 12:45 p.m., according to a government advisory.
At least 22,000 power outages reported in metro Atlanta, the City of Atlanta said in an update, while 25 power lines are down. More than 20 water rescues took place in the Peachtree Battle area of the city, though no major injuries have been reported so far. Photos from the city show submerged cars, fallen trees and water inundating streets and houses.
City authorities, in their advisory, have urged residents to monitor local weather advisories and exercise precautions to avoid any unfortunate incidents.
Track the storm: Map Helene’s forecast path through Georgia
Photos: Atlanta experiences major flooding as Helene hits Georgia
Georgia power outages
In Georgia alone, more than a million people were without power as of about 7:30 a.m. Friday, according to USA TODAY’s tracker. Chatham County had the most residents without power, at 113,212 reported outages.
Contributing: Thao Nguyen, Christopher Cann, Trevor Hughes, Eric Lagatta, USA TODAY
Saman Shafiq is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at sshafiq@gannett.com and follow her on X and Instagram @saman_shafiq7.