Tropical Storm Helene: 11 dead in Georgia as flooding, power outages persist

Driving the news: Kemp said Friday during a press briefing that metro Atlanta and other areas "caught a little bit of a break," as the storm's path shifted slightly to the east as it cut through Georgia.

• But, counties and cities stretching from Valdosta to Augusta have been hit hard with damage, the governor said.
• 115 structures in Valdosta suffered heavy damage, and crews are trying to reach people trapped inside buildings.
• The city's South Georgia Medical Center is without power after a tree fell and took out its emergency generator.

Zoom in: In Atlanta, Peachtree and Nancy creeks have spilled over their banks, and Sagamore Drive, Bohler Road and Hanover Way West in Buckhead are closed to motorists due to flood waters.

• Atlanta fire crews also rescued people in Buckhead as homes and apartment buildings were flooded.
• Sandy Springs mayor Rusty Paul said a sinkhole in the 4500 block of Lake Forrest Drive on Atlanta's side of the roadway is closed as the sidewalk has collapsed.
• Trees and power lines are also down across the metro area, and drivers have had to be rescued from vehicles in Sandy Springs and Cobb County.

By the numbers: 152 road closures are reported across the state, including I-16 in Laurens County in central Georgia and I-20 in McDuffie County near Augusta.

• Wind gusts were measured as high as 100 mph in southeast Georgia's Bacon County.
• 17 shelters are housing 1,100 people across the state.
• 1,300 traffic signals are out across Georgia, and Kemp said the state is deploying generators to the Valdosta area so they can get those signals working again.
• More than one million people are without electricity.
• Georgia Power has 10,000 people working across the state, and "literally thousands" of Georgia EMC employees are doing the same, the governor said.
• Major Gen. Richard Wilson said the Georgia National Guard has deployed 500 soldiers to help with debris removal and transporting supplies across the state.

Stunning stat: Atlanta recorded the highest rainfall on record spanning 48 hours, according to the Georgia Climate Office's post on X. The city received 11.12 inches of rain over the last two days, shattering the previous record of 9.59 inches back in 1886.

Context: Kemp said a preliminary review of the damage in eastern Georgia is comparable to the destruction Hurricane Michael caused throughout south Georgia in 2018.

• "This is going to be, monetary wise, be big or bigger than Michael without hardly doing any assessment," he said, adding row crops and nut trees have suffered significant damage.
• Agriculture Commissioner Tyler Harper said the agency is reminding farmers to extensively document damage so they can get the resources they need to "be stronger on the backside of this."

Catch up quick: Hurricane Helene made landfall in Florida's Big Bend region as a Category 4 storm just after 11pm Thursday night.

• The deadly hurricane unleashed an unprecedented 15- to 20-foot storm surge in some parts of the Florida coast and left over a million residents across that state without power, and many homes flooded, Axios Tampa Bay reports.

What's next: A flash flood warning remains in effect in parts of north central Georgia through 1:45pm ET Friday. Expect river and creek flooding to continue, even in areas where flood watches have been canceled, NWS forecasters caution.

Go deeper:

• In photos: Tropical Storm Helene in Atlanta
• Historic and deadly Hurricane Helene slams Florida to the Carolinas