Hurricane Helene hits USA coast at 225km/h

Hurricane Helene made landfall in north-western Florida as a Category 4 storm. There were at least three storm-related deaths.

The National Hurricane Centre in Miami said Helene roared ashore just before midnight on Thursday (Friday afternoon AEST) near the mouth of the Aucilla River in the Big Bend area of Florida’s Gulf Coast. 
It had maximum sustained winds estimated at 225km/h. That location was only about 32km north-west of where Hurricane Idalia came ashore last year at nearly the same ferocity and caused widespread damage.

Helene prompted hurricane and flash flood warnings extending far beyond the coast up into northern Georgia and western North Carolina. More than 1.2 million homes and businesses were without power in Florida, more than 190,000 in Georgia and more than 30,000 in the Carolinas, according to the poweroutage.us tracking site. The governors of those states and Alabama and Virginia all declared emergencies.

Earlier, forecasters warned that the enormous system could create a “nightmare” storm surge and bring dangerous winds and rain across much of the southeastern US.