1 person dies in Florida while driving on Interstate 4, governor says

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) – Fast-moving Hurricane Helene made landfall in the Big Bend area of Florida’s northwestern coast as a Category 4 storm Thursday evening, threatening a “catastrophic” storm surge as well as damaging winds, rains and flash floods hundreds of miles inland across much of the southeastern U.S., forecasters said.

Authorities in Georgia reported two people killed in a possible tornado in south Georgia as the storm approached, and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said one person died while driving on Interstate 4 when a sign fell onto their car.

“It just shows you that it’s very dangerous conditions out there. You need to be, right now, just hunkering down,” he said at a news conference late Thursday.

DeSantis said more fatalities were possible as the storm advances and that 3,500 National Guardsmen were standing by to help respond.

“When Floridians wake up tomorrow morning, we’re going to be waking up to a state where, very likely, there’s been additional loss of life. And certainly, there’s going to be loss of property,” he said. “You’re going to have people that are going to lose their homes because of this storm. So please keep those folks in mind, keep them in your prayers.”