Worst of Hurricane Helene went east of Columbus. 11 deaths reported in GA

Editor’s note: This story is no longer being updated. Please visit ledger-enquirer.com for the latest news and information on Hurricane Helene.

Columbus residents are waking up Friday to find damages from Hurricane Helene aren’t as bad as feared after the storm turned farther east overnight.

The worst wind speeds were expected to hit the Chattahoochee Valley late Thursday night into the early morning hours Friday, leaving risk for downed trees, power outages and more. While the city is seeing outages and downed trees, damage is less than expected.

But much of the rest of Georgia felt the effects of the storm: More than 1 million people were without power Friday morning across the Peach State. Some counties in southeastern Georgia saw the vast majority of its residents without power.

Here’s what to know about the storm’s impact in Columbus.

2 Georgia residents killed when tornado flips mobile home

1:20 p.m. - Two people were killed when a tornado touched down overnight in Middle Georgia during Hurricane Helene, emergency management officials told news outlets.

A man and woman were in their Wheeler County mobile home Thursday, Sept. 26, when a twister came through the area and flipped it, Steve Adams, director of the county’s Emergency Management Agency, told WTOC.

Read more here .

11 confirmed dead in Georgia

11:50 a.m. - While Columbus didn’t see extreme damages, other parts of Georgia suffered from the severe weather. Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp announced just before noon Friday that 11 people have died , and more have been trapped in collapsed homes.

Wind advisory issued in Columbus

11:30 a.m. - The National Weather Service issued a wind advisory for much of Georgia, including Columbus. Winds at 15 to 25 mph are expected, with gusts up to 40 mph. Unsecured objects may blow around, tree limbs could be blown down and the winds could cause additional power outages. The advisory is set to end at 9 p.m.

Columbus power outages drop significantly

11 a.m. - After thousands of outages were reported earlier Friday, fewer than 150 were still lingering as of 11 a.m., according to poweroutage.us. All of the remaining outages were Georgia Power customers.

Extra 1,000 National Guard members activated in Georgia

8:15 a.m. - Gov. Brian Kemp says he has signed an executive order to put an extra 1,000 National Guard members into action Friday morning.

Kemp had already activated 250 members before Friday morning.

Roads closed, but Columbus dodges major damage

7:20 a.m. - Columbus officials are expressing gratitude Friday morning as the worst of the storm appeared to veer eastward, leaving the Fountain City with far less damage than expected.

Emergency Management Director Chance Corbett said on a scale of 1-10 for severity, he was expecting Columbus to get damage in the 8-10 range. But it wound up being a 1 on that scale, Corbett said. Read more here .

Columbus still under flash flood warning

5:45 a.m. - Columbus, Phenix City and Cusseta were put on a flash flood warning early Friday morning, which is expected to stay in effect until 7 a.m.

Helene weakens to a tropical storm over Georgia

5 a.m. - The National Hurricane Center says Helene is now a tropical storm. It had weakened to a Category 1 hurricane earlier Friday morning.

“Life-Threatening Storm Surge, Winds, and Heavy Rains Continue,” the National Hurricane Center said in a social media post Friday.

Thousands without power in Columbus

4:30 a.m. - Columbus has reported nearly 3,000 power outages Friday morning. most of them being customers of Diverse Power, according to poweroutage.us . The company didn’t have estimated restoration times available at publication time.

Georgia has to spread its response far and wide

4 a.m. - Gov. Brian Kemp has warned there are difficulties responding to Hurricane Helene because it’s hurting the whole state.

“Instead of deploying a bunch of resources to one part of the state like we normally would do before a storm, we’re expecting to have to deal with debris fields in all parts of the state,” Kemp said.

The storm has a wind field of about 500 miles, leaving the path of wreckage to be quite broad. Read more here .