ATLANTA — Here’s what you need to know:
- Helene officially made landfall at 11:20 p.m. in the Florida panhandle.
- Downgraded to strong tropical storm as it neared metro Atlanta
- Heavy downpours caused flooding across north Georgia.
- Multiple road closures are in effect due to fallen trees and downed power lines.
- Gov. Brian Kemp signed an Executive Order approving an extra 1,000 Georgia National Guard troops to help with recovery efforts across Georgia.
- Wind Advisory in effect through Saturday morning with breezy winds of 25 mph and gusts of 40 mph possible.
- Flooding around rivers, creeks and streams will continue flooding through Friday afternoon.
- Since Wednesday, Atlanta has received about a foot of rain.
Severe Weather Team 2 is monitoring the effects of Tropical Storm Helene around the clock and making sure you have the latest information to keep you and your family safe.
Helene officially made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane on Thursday night along Florida’s Big Bend and quickly moved north across Georgia.
It quickly got downgraded to a Category 1 storm shortly after moving into Georgia and was downgraded again to a tropical storm at 5 a.m.
Severe Weather Team 2 Meteorologist Ashley Kramlich says metro Atlanta and north Georgia will continue to feel Helene’s effects throughout the weekend.
Most of north Georgia is under a Wind Advisory that will last through Saturday morning. Kramlich says breezy winds of 25 mph and strong gusts of 40 mph will cause more downed trees along with extended power outages.
Flooding around rivers, creeks and streams will continue through Friday afternoon.
Kramlich says that since Wednesday, Atlanta has received about a foot of rain.
Here are the current watches and advisories issued for our area:
A Wind Advisory is in effect until 9 p.m. for Banks, Barrow, Bartow, Butts, Carroll, Chattooga, Cherokee, Clarke, Clayton, Cobb, Coweta, Dawson, DeKalb, Douglas, Fayette, Floyd, Forsyth, Gordon, Greene, Gwinnett, Hall, Haralson, Heard, Henry, Jackson, Jasper, Lamar, Lumpkin, Madison, Meriwether, Morgan, Newton, North Fulton, Oconee, Oglethorpe, Paulding, Pickens, Pike, Polk, Putnam, Rockdale, South Fulton, Spalding, Troup, Upson, Walton and White counties.
A Flood Watch is in effect until 2 p.m. for parts of Banks, Barrow, Bartow, Butts, Carroll, Chattooga, Cherokee, Clarke, Clayton, Cobb, Coweta, Dawson, DeKalb, Douglas, Fannin, Fayette, Floyd, Forsyth, Gilmer, Gordon, Greene, Gwinnett, Hall, Haralson, Heard, Henry, Jackson, Jasper, Lamar, Lumpkin, Meriwether, Morgan, Newton, North Fulton, Oconee, Oglethorpe, Paulding, Pickens, Pike, Polk, Putnam, Rockdale, South Fulton, Spalding, Towns, Troup, Union, Walton and White counties.
Helene is already bringing flooding to our area:
Heavy rain has already started falling across north Georgia, causing flooding and trees down across the metro and additional extensive amounts of rain is going to continue to fall throughout Friday.
Since Wednesday, Kramlich says metro Atlanta and north Georgia have seen about a foot of rain.
Deaths and injuries:
Two people were killed in a possible tornado in south Georgia as the storm approached, and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said one person died while driving on Interstate 4 when a sign fell onto their car.
The Georgia deaths happened in a trailer park in Wheeler County, according to Sheriff Randy Rigdon.
Wheeler County is about 70 miles southeast of Macon.
Two other deaths were reported in Laurens County by emergency management officials.
Power outages:
The storm has knocked out power to over 1 million homes and businesses in Florida and over 50,000 in Georgia as it approached and came ashore.
As of 8 a.m., nearly 60,000 Georgia Power customers in metro Atlanta are without power. DeKalb County is the hardest hit with more than 39,000 customers experiencing an outage.
More than 23,000 customers in Fulton County and another 12,000 in Gwinnett County are also without power.
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