Helene's toll grows: Nearly 1.2 million without power in Florida, 4 dead

Nearly 1.2 million people without power. Record coastal flooding from Tampa to the Big Bend. Hundreds of millions of dollars in property losses and damages, at the very least.

Hurricane Helene, which roared ashore just after 11 p.m. Thursday night as a Category 4 hurricane, hammered Florida’s Gulf Coast and was far from done with its destruction. The massive system, downgraded to a tropical storm early Friday morning, was lashing Georgia and dumping torrential rains flooding communities across the Southeast. Rivers were over-topping banks around Asheville, North Carolina, and the rain was expected to keep falling throughout the day.

At least four were dead in Helene’s wake — two people in Florida and two in Georgia.

It will take days to fully assess damage but news and social media reports recorded inundated streets and flooded homes and condos along much of the Gulf Coast— from Fort Myers Beach to Sarasota and points north. Taylor County, where Helene made landfall in a sparsely populated stretch of the Big Bend, endured its third named storm in just over a year.

“The early reports we’ve received is the damage in those counties in the eye of the storm has exceeded the damage of Idalia and Debby combined,” Gov. Ron DeSantis said in a Friday morning press conference. “This is some major damage.”

Florida’s confirmed deaths so far included a driver on I-4 near Tampa who died after Helene’s high winds blew a sign onto their vehicle and another person who died after a tree fell on their Dixie County home, DeSantis said.

He added that dozens of nursing homes and assisted living facilities, as well as four hospitals, were on generator power as of Friday morning.

Friday morning, Florida’s number of power outages appeared to peak at just over 1.1 million customers with the lights off. DeSantis told residents an army of more than 30,000 lineworkers was set to start repairing the grid now that Helene has passed.

“There’s folks on the ground taking action to remedy that as soon as possible,” he said.

Surveying the damage

A slight jog east may have spared Tallahassee, the state’s capital, from the most severe impacts of Helene, keeping the state capital on Helene’s weaker side. Early footage shows fallen trees blocking roads and shearing off sections of homes.

Storm surge levels were most severe closer to the eye of the storm. In Cedar Key, NOAA gauges recorded more than 9 feet of water above sea level. In Clearwater Beach, St. Petersburg and inside Tampa Bay, nearly 7 feet. Further South in Fort Myers, 5 feet of surge was recorded. Naples notched 4 feet.

The water overwhelmed cities and led to residents calling for help and rescue along the coast. The city of Venice, in Sarasota County, said it conducted at least 30 rescues on Thursday before the water receded. Pasco County said it rescued at least 200 people overnight. Pinellas County had 1,500 calls for rescue it was not able to respond to, Sheriff Bob Gualtieri told Axios.

Helene’s waves smashed houses and burst windows, tossed boats onto streets and unmoored buildings from their foundations.

In St. Petersburg and Bradenton, officials called for residents to conserve water — or even stop flushing the toilet or using the shower altogether — to avoid straining sewage systems overwhelmed with stormwater flooding.

Aerial assessments of places like Tampa showed entire neighborhoods on barrier islands with submerged roads.

“We’re seeing extensive damage on Davis Islands and waterfront areas. The National Guard has activated to help with rescue efforts,” Tampa Mayor Jane Castor posted on X.

Airports, universities and government buildings across the state were closed ahead of the storm. Large coastal bridges like the Skyway in Tampa closed as winds picked up, and a fleet of bridge inspectors were on their way to examine them for a safe re-opening Friday morning, the Florida Department of Transportation said.

Early Friday, the tropical storm was near Macon, Georgia, and tracking north toward Atlanta. Its winds had fallen to 70 mph but the storm was also causing widespread flooding across much of the Southeast. Another million-plus people were reported without power in Georgia and other states,