Helene Strengthens to Hurricane

A Tropical Storm Watch is in effect for Abbeville, Anderson, Avery, Buncombe, Burke Mountains, Caldwell Mountains, Central Greenville, Cherokee, Cleveland, Eastern McDowell, Eastern Polk, Elbert, Franklin, Graham, Greater Burke, Greater Caldwell, Greater Oconee, Greater Pickens, Greater Rutherford, Greenville Mountains, Greenwood, Habersham, Hart, Haywood, Henderson, Laurens, Macon, Madison, McDowell Mountains, Mitchell, Northern Jackson, Northern Spartanburg, Oconee Mountains, Pickens Mountains, Polk Mountains, Rabun, Rutherford Mountains, Southern Greenville, Southern Jackson, Southern Spartanburg, Stephens, Swain, Transylvania, Union SC, and Yancey.

NWS: Tropical Storm Helene is expected to make landfall over the Florida Panhandle Thursday evening and race north into Georgia and the western Carolinas. Significant flash flooding and mainstem flooding is likely Thursday into early Friday, especially along the Blue Ridge Escarpment. 40-50 MPH wind gusts will be associated with Helene as the storm tracks just west of the County Warning Area Thursday night into Friday morning. The combination of saturated soils and strong wind gusts will result in numerous trees down, leading to numerous power outages. Numerous landslides may occur across the mountains, with a couple of large, damaging debris flows/slope failures. An isolated tornado or two can't be ruled out during this event as well.

Information below provided by the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources : A tropical cyclone will likely track generally northward over the Gulf of Mexico before making landfall over the eastern Florida Panhandle on its way toward South Carolina .

There is uncertainty about intensity, track, and timing [of Hurricane Helene.] It's likely to bring tropical storm conditions to parts of South Carolina later Thursday through Friday.

Strong wind, heavy rain and flooding, coastal storm surge, and isolated tornadoes will all be risks for some or all of our state at the end of the week.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Duke Energy is asking its customers in the Carolinas to ready themselves and their family members for Hurricane Helene, which is likely to impact the region late Thursday and into Friday. This includes preparing for potential power outages.

“Helene is a large and fast-moving storm that has the potential to deliver torrential rain and tropical-storm-force gusts to the western half of the Carolinas,” said Jason Hollifield, Duke Energy’s storm director in the Carolinas. “We’re closely monitoring the projected path of the storm and strategically moving people and equipment to ensure we’re ready to respond to power outages.”

Prior to Hurricane Helene arriving in the Carolinas, Duke Energy will have more than 10,000 workers – including lineworkers, tree trimmers, damage assessors and support personnel – staged and ready to respond as soon as conditions are safe.

Customers are encouraged to enroll in Outage Alerts to get information about area outages and restoration efforts via text message, voice message or email. In addition, customers can report power outages via the Duke Energy app or website , by texting OUT to 57801 or by calling 800.POWERON (800.769.3766).

Wind: The strength of the winds we see in South Carolina will depend on how strong the storm gets before moving into Florida and the storm's track. Another concern is that this will be an XL-sized storm that could cause strong wind well away from its center. Also, it will be moving relatively fast after landfall, which increases our wind risk because the storm will have less time to weaken over land before affecting us. The forecast track from NHC puts the Lowcountry, Central Savannah River Area, and Upstate most at risk for seeing sustained tropical storm force wind. A track to the west would reduce the potential wind impacts, while one more to the east would bring a risk of damaging wind to more of the Palmetto State.

Rain: While most of the state needs rain, tropical cyclones cause extreme rainfall rates. So, despite drought conditions, we will likely see flash flooding where the heaviest rain occurs. The heavy rain risk looks greatest in the Upstate for now, and several inches of rain may fall on the area northwest of I-85. There may also be river flooding in the Upstate. The rest of the state will see less rain, though potentially enough for isolated flash flooding. If the NHC forecast works out, the rain comes on Thursday night and Friday.