‘We got hit really hard:’ Gov. Kemp speaks after Helene leaves major flooding, damage behind

ATLANTA — Georgia Governor Brian Kemp is assessing the damage left behind after Tropical Storm Helene moved through early Friday morning.

“We got hit really hard,” the governor said in an exclusive interview with Channel 2′s Richard Elliot.

Helene made landfall on Thursday night as a Category 4 hurricane, but quickly weakened to a Category 1 hurricane. By early Friday morning, it weakened to a tropical storm.

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Even though Helene moved through quickly, it left major damage in south Georgia and major flooding in metro Atlanta and north Georgia, Kemp said.

He says that there have been multiple fatalities reported, including at least one that involved a tree hitting a car.

The governor says there are hospitals and nursing homes in south Georgia that don’t have power.

More than one million people across Georgia are without power on Friday morning.

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Kemp says that the state was as prepared as possible with 250 National Guard troops ready to move. On Friday morning, he deployed 250 more troops and authorized calling up 1,000 more.

He says it will take “a long time” for the state to recover, but the priority is getting hospitals and nursing homes back online and getting flood waters down so Georgians can safely get back on the roads.

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VIDEO: Boat rescues underway at flooded Atlanta apartment complex

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