Hurricane Helene was a dangerous Category 4 storm when it made landfall over Florida's Big Bend area late Thursday night but weakened rapidly as it raced inland early Friday and was downgraded to a tropical storm in mere hours, the National Hurricane Center said.
Still, the center said Helene was bringing a "life-threatening" storm surge, strong winds, and heavy rain.
As of 8 a.m. EDT, Helene was about 35 miles south-southwest of Clemson, Georgia, and 80 miles east-northeast of Atlanta and was racing north at 30 mph, the Miami-based hurricane center said. It was packing maximum sustained winds of 60 mph.
Helene made landfall about 10 miles west of Perry, Florida, at 11:10 p.m. EDT, according to the hurricane center, with maximum sustained winds of 140 mph.
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