Update (1025ET):
According to Poweroutage.us, over four million customers were without power as of 1000 ET due to Tropical Storm Helene. Most outages are in South Carolina, Florida, Georgia, and North Carolina.
As for travel this morning, the flight tracking website FlightAware shows 1,625 delayed flights and 1,137 canceled flights, primarily at airports across the southeast part of the US.
Weather models forecast that Helene will reverse direction over Kentucky and then traverse across the Appalachia region to the Mid-Atlantic area.
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Hurricane Helene slammed into Florida's Big Bend area late Thursday night as a powerful Category 4 storm but weakened to a tropical system early Friday morning over Georgia.
The latest data from NHC shows Helen was about 100 miles southeast of Atlanta and moving north at 30 mph. Winds are still in excess of 70 mph, just four mph below Category 1 status.
"Catastrophic, life-threatening, record-breaking flash & urban flooding. As Helene continues moving inland, damaging wind gusts will continue, particularly over high terrain southern Appalachians," NHC warned.
The weather agency noted, "In particular the inland wind hazards of Helene are highlighted by the new experimental cone. A widespread area of Tropical Storm Warnings are still in effect for North Florida, most of Georgia, all of South Carolina, and Western North Carolina."
According to NHC, Helene made landfall just miles from Perry, Florida, in the late overnight hours, with maximum sustained winds of 140 mph. The storm churned northwards across Florida into Georgia, killing three people and leaving two million plus without power across several states.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis told reporters overnight that 3,500 National Guardsmen are on standby, prepared to respond to emergencies across the Big Bend region.
Data from the flight tracking website FlightAware shows widespread flight disruptions in the southeastern part of the US.
NASA's International Space Station flew over the massive storm on Thursday evening.
Georgia, North/ South Carolinas, and as far north as Virginia have already declared a state of emergency, as models show the storm's future trajectory is through the Appalachian region.
This area badly needs rain.
Here's our reporting on the storm:
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