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Helene leaves more than 1 million in the dark

Vaseline September 27, 2024

More than a million people were without power in Florida Friday morning, even as Hurricane Helene weakened to a tropical storm as it made its way through Georgia.

The storm unleashed 140 mph winds and flooding hours of rain after making landfall on the state’s Big Bend coast late Thursday, becoming the first known Category 4 storm to hit the region since records began in 1851.

For hours, the storm maintained hurricane strength as it moved inland through northern Florida and into Georgia. At 5 a.m. ET, the National Hurricane Center downgraded Helene to a tropical storm with sustained winds of 75 mph.

Although all hurricane and tropical storm warnings have been halted along Florida’s east and west coasts, nearly 1.2 million people were without power as of Friday morning, USA TODAY’s outage map showed. Pinellas County had the most customers without power Friday morning, with 234,000.

Moreover, Georgians are also experiencing power outages as the tropical storm enters their borders. Significant storm surge and coastal flooding are expected in Georgia, with parts of Savannah possibly underwater until Friday evening.

Follow the latest power outage numbers in Florida below as Helene washes ashore.

Helene live updates: Latest radar map as tropical storm wreaks havoc in Georgia

Florida power outage map

More than 2.5 million homes and businesses in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina were left in the dark early Friday as Helene lashed the region with strong winds and heavy rain.

Most of the outages were reported in Florida, especially along the Big Bend coast. Nearly 1.2 million utility customers were without power Friday morning, according to a USA TODAY power outage tracker.