The death toll from Hurricane Helene rose Friday to at least 33 people across the southeastern United States, authorities said, as torrential flooding inundated communities and emergency responders launched massive rescue operations.
Roads, homes and businesses were underwater after the enormous storm made landfall near the Florida state capital Tallahassee overnight and surged north, knocking out power for millions of customers.
And while Helene, a Category 4 hurricane, weakened to a tropical storm and eventually a tropical depression it has continued to wreak havoc across multiple states, hammering them with heavy winds and rain that the National Hurricane Center described as “life-threatening conditions.”
The Miami-based NHC reported the storm was “still producing historic and catastrophic flooding” and warned of flash floods in Georgia’s largest city Atlanta, as well as in South Carolina, North Carolina and Tennessee.
Up to 12 inches (30 centimeters) of rain was forecast in the Appalachian mountains, …