Cleanup begins as Helene moves inland with flooding, power outages

( NewsNation ) — After making landfall in Florida as a Category 4 hurricane, Helene is continuing to track inland as a weakened tropical storm, bringing flooding and leaving millions without power in the southeast.

There have been four reported fatalities from the storm so far after catastrophic flooding and storm surgery that left destruction in their wake.

A person died from a falling sign on a Tampa roadway during the storm, according to Gov. Ron DeSantis, and two others died in a possible tornado in south Georgia as the storm approached, according to the Associated Press . A fourth person in Jeff Davis County, Georgia, died, according to NewsNation affiliate WSAV .

In Florida, rescue crews have been working to rescue people stuck in floodwaters with some areas experiencing up to nine feet of flooding. Crews are also dealing with downed powerlines and other hazards from the storm.

As Helene tracked through Georgia , wind gusts over 90 miles per hour were reported with sustained winds at 60 mph. Headed toward the Carolinas, there are flood warnings across the southeast, including North and South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and southern Illinois and southern Indiana.

Millions have also been left without power thanks to the storm. More than 1.24 million people in Florida were left without power, along with 1 million outages reported in Georgia, more than 1.1 million in South Carolina and more than 400,000 in North Carolina.

NewsNation’s Devan Markham contributed to this story.

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