ATLANTA — Helene made landfall Thursday at 11:10 p.m. as a Category 4 hurricane in the Florida Big Bend region just east of the mouth of the Aucilla River. It was about 10 miles west-southwest of Perry, Florida. Maximum winds at landfall were 140 miles per hour with a minimum pressure of 938 mb.
The storm is now inland over Georgia. It is losing its intensity fairly quickly. At 5 a.m., the storm was downgraded to a tropical storm with winds of 70 mph. It is located near Macon -- about 100 miles southeast of Atlanta -- and still rapidly moving north-northeast at 30mph.
In anticipation of the storm's impacts, Georgia's governor issued a State of Emergency to free up resources.
11Alive has issued a Weather Impact Alert for Wednesday night for pre-Helene tropical downpours, then for Thursday and Friday in north Georgia due to impacts from Helene.
Download the 11Alive News mobile app and turn on alerts to get the latest updates on the storm's track from our team. Stream extended forecasts and live radar on the 11Alive+ streaming app, available on Roku, Amazon Fire and Apple TV.
Helene latest track
Helene brought devastating storm surge, damaging winds, and flooding rain along the Big Bend area even after Helene's landfall. Because it was moving so rapidly, it was still a hurricane by the time it made it into southern Georgia.
Helene weakened to a tropical storm as of 5 a.m., as it moved northward through the state of Georgia.
Watches and Warnings:
We now have Hurricane Warnings extending as far north as Spalding, Butts, Jasper, Pike, Lamar, and Upson counties, where the top gusts could exceed 80 mph. The rest of North Georgia is now under a Tropical Storm Warning. We are expecting wind gusts of 50 to 70 mph with locally higher peak gusts near the center. This is the first Tropical Storm Warning for the area since Zeta in October 2020.
Hurricane Warnings extend through central and southwestern Georgia where hurricane-force winds are likely.
Georgia Impacts
We have issued an 11Alive Weather Impact Alert from late Wednesday through Friday for impacts expected in north Georgia.
You can read more about them here: 11Alive Weather Impact Alert Issued.
Interactive Helene Radar
Click here for the interactive radar tracking Helene.
