Hurricane Helene Leaves Millions Without Power Following Catastrophic Landfall

Late Thursday night, Hurricane Helene landed in the sparsely populated Big Bend region of Florida, releasing maximum sustained winds of over 140 miles per hour (225 kilometers per hour). The storm impacted the region where the Panhandle and the peninsula meet, causing flooding. The storm caused major damage that reached hundreds of miles northward, flooding as far away as North Carolina.

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Emergency personnel were dispatched to the state of Georgia to rescue those trapped inside of flooded homes. In Valdosta, Rhonda Bell, who was present when a massive oak tree crashed through her roof, expressed gratitude to God that she and her husband were still alive to tell about the incident.

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Sheets of rain and destroyed buildings were seen in videos that were shared on social media platforms in Perry, Florida. In response to the rising floodwaters, the local authorities placed numerous villages under curfew. Boats were utilized by emergency personnel in Citrus County, which is situated 120 miles south of Perry, to reach citizens who were stranded. It was warned on Facebook by the sheriff's office that "if you are trapped and need help, please call for rescuers—DO NOT TRY TO TREAD FLOODWATERS YOURSELF." The sheriff's office cited the dangers of live wires and debris as the reason for the warning.

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During the early morning hours of Friday, almost four million households and businesses in the states of Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina were without power. There have been at least six fatalities reported, one of which occurred in Florida as a result of a sign accidentally falling onto a car, and two others occurred in Georgia as a result of a potential tornado. It was determined that fallen trees were responsible for more deaths in the cities of Charlotte, North Carolina, and Anderson County, South Carolina.

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