What we know about Helene
- Helene has weakened to a post-tropical cyclone and is moving north, bringing what the National Hurricane Center called "catastrophic, historic flooding" over parts of the southern Appalachians.
- At least 42 deaths across the Southeast have been reported as a result of the storm.
- At 11 p.m. ET, the storm was about 115 miles east-northeast of Paducah, Kentucky, and moving west-southwest at 8 mph. It had maximum sustained winds of 30 mph.
- The storm made landfall in Florida's Big Bend region as a Category 4 storm Thursday night at 11:10 p.m. Emergency services were rescuing people trapped by fast-rising waters.
- More than 3.8 million customers are without power across Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, Ohio and Illinois amid fears that outages could last weeks.
- NBC News Lite, a lightweight version of NBCNews.com available in emergency situations when internet connectivity may be limited, has been turned on for readers in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama and North Carolina.
Chart: Category 4 hurricanes are intensifying faster
Helene took about 31 hours to intensify from a Category 1 hurricane to a Category 4, and in the recorded history of Atlantic basin hurricanes, that’s pretty fast.
The length of time it takes Category 4 hurricanes to intensify has shortened in recent years, according to an NBC News analysis of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration data.
Since 2015, an average Category 4 hurricane — those with wind speeds of 130 mph to 156 mph — has taken 42 hours to intensify from a Category 1. Thirty years earlier, that figure was 52 hours.
Evacuation orders issued for areas downstream of Nolichucky Dam
Evacuations are in progress in areas that could be impacted if there is a breach of Tennessee's Nolichucky Dam.
A flash flooding warning for dam failure has been issued for the area downstream of the dam, including north central Cocke County, southwestern Green County and southeastern Hamblen County.
Cooke County Mayor Rob Mathis said in a 12:30 a.m. ET post on Facebook that homes and businesses in the Centerview and Bybee area are being evacuated.
"Emergency responders are going to door-to-door in the affected area to encourage people to relocate," he said. "Please seek shelter with family and friends and avoid this area until further notice."
A mandatory evacuation was issued for all residents of south Hamblen County along the Nolichucky River.
Officials warn of imminent breach at Tennessee's Nolichucky Dam
A breach of the Nolichucky Dam in Greene County, Tennessee could happen at any time due to extreme rainfall from Helene, officials said.
The Tennessee Valley Authority's River Forecast Center warned at 12:13 a.m. ET of an "imminent breach" of the dam, which could cause potentially life-threatening flooding.
The National Weather Service office in Morristown said a flash flooding warning for dam failure has been issued for the area downstream of the dam, including north central Cocke County, southwestern Green County and southeastern Hamblen County.
"This is a PARTICULARLY DANGEROUS SITUATION," the weather service office said in an advisory at 11:35 p.m. ET "SEEK HIGHER GROUND NOW!"
The warning goes until 3:45 a.m. ET Saturday.
If a complete failure of the dam were to occur, the initial flood wave would reach the West Allens Bridge Road bridge — a little over 2 miles from the dam — in 20 minutes, the office said.
About 10 p.m. ET, the Tennessee Valley Authority issued a “condition yellow” for the dam (now a “condition red”), which indicated it was “approaching its threshold to withstand excessive floodwater, necessitating immediate action.”
Earlier Friday evening, the Greene County Sheriff’s Department advised anyone who lives near the Nolichucky River to take precautions.
The dam is one of several that have been under stress with the rainfall from Helene, prompting evacuations.
Helene has more rain for the Ohio Valley
Post-tropical cyclone Helene is weakening and will likely become a remnant low this weekend, even as it promises another 1 to 3 inches of rain in the Ohio Valley by Sunday, federal forecasters said.
The front has little of the muscle that once made it a hurricane, yet it continues to inspire flood watches for parts of Tennessee, lower Ohio, and the mid-Mississippi Valleys, the National Hurricane Center said in its 11 p.m. ET advisory on the storm.
Helene was centered about 115 miles east-northeast of Paducah, Kentucky, with maximum sustained winds of 30 mph and a trajectory west-southwest at 8 mph, the hurricane center said.
However, the hurricane center said it expects the storm to stall over the Tennessee Valley overnight and through the weekend. Rain in the Appalachian Mountains was likely over, but some showers were possible, they said.
Tornadoes were possible overnight in southern Virginia and northeastern North Carolina, the hurricane center said.
Florida’s first responders perform dozens of rescues in Helene aftermath
First responders were urgently conducting rescues in St. Petersburg in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene. NBC News' Marissa Parra spoke with local residents who survived the storm but lost everything in its wake.
How first responders saved lives at Tennessee hospital submerged by floodwaters
Outside Unicoi County Hospital in Erwin, Tennessee, ambulances were submerged by floodwaters as patients floated by slowly, still intubated, on rafts.
First responders and outside rescuers removed more than 50 patients from the hospital, its rooftop, and surrounding high water today.
Erwin Police Chief Regan Tilson said it was an team effort.
“We had a lot of support and a lot of help,” he said. “We needed it. We were able to get the patients, the staff, and the first responders out with the help of the Tennessee National Guard. And, of course, the Virginia State Police sent two helicopters. And without their support and help, we would have been in more trouble than we were.”
He said the rising floodwater took the community by surprise and made evacuating the hospital before the structure became an island virtually impossible.
Adam Copas, director of Unicoi County Emergency Medical Services, said some first responders were trapped inside the hospital with patients and, by happenstance, were able to help them get to its rooftop, where helicopter crews from the Tennessee Army National Guard and Virginia State Police pulled them from harm's way.
Teamwork ensured people were ultimately reunited with safe ground, he said.
“It was organized chaos, but there was a plan, and we executed it and affected that rescue the way that it should have been done and as safe as we possibly could,” Copas said.
Though the historic flooding astonished some, Copas said the region's first responders have been subjected to flood scenario exercises, helping organization win over chaos.
“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime event,” he said. “This is what we practice for and train for.”
North Carolina's Lake Lure dam holds after heavy rains, concerns about integrity force evacuations
A structural engineer assessed the Lake Lure dam Friday evening and determined its failure is not imminent, a town official said.
The Lake Lure dam in western North Carolina overtopped Friday after Hurricane Helene inundated the area, forcing evacuations and prompting warnings from officials early Friday morning that the dam could fail.
Olivia Stewman, the Lake Lure town manager, said a structural engineer “found it in stable condition,” despite damage that had been reported earlier Friday. The dam lost power early Friday, but that has been restored.
Stewman said residents who evacuated might not be able to return to their homes for now because it was difficult to travel through the area, with downed trees and other hazards. The area still did not have cell service, Stewman said.
Potable water service shut off for part of Pinellas County
Access to potable water has been restricted to some Florida barrier islands because of “storm-related damages and flooding” at a water booster station in St. Pete Beach, Pinellas County said.
The restrictions impact residents from John’s Pass south to Fort De Soto beginning at 8 p.m. ET tonight.
Due to the water restriction, the county is asking all residents to evacuate because it "will pose a health and safety risk to all residents and businesses in the area for the next several days," the county said.
"Residents and businesses in St. Pete Beach, Treasure Island and Tierra Verde will not have potable water service while repairs are being made," the county communications said, adding that the shutoff will "also affect water service to fire lines, which means fire rescue crews will not have access to water from fire hydrants in the event of a fire."
Pinellas County said "hundreds" of pipes were damaged from the storm and buried in the sand.
The Barrier Islands in Florida were closed today and access will be re-evaluated tomorrow, Pinellas County official said.
Best friends comfort each other amid Florida beach town's devastation
Since they were children, Leslie High and Laurie Lilliott embraced the natural beauty of Dekle Beach, a small town along Florida's verdant Big Bend coast, where Helene did some of its worst damage.
The storm leveled residences and felled trees, but after nearly hitting Dekle Beach dead on — the National Weather Service said it made landfall just to the north, near Perry — the storm's 140 mph winds couldn't take out the town's human bonds.
High grew up in the enclave; Lilliott was a frequent visitor with vacationing family and still comes regularly, she said. The population of Taylor County, which underlies Dekle Beach, is nearly 22,000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
“I’m born and raised,” High said. “You got the salt in your shoes, and you don’t get it out.”
Lilliott added, “It doesn’t come out ever. It’s kind of like the salt of the earth.”
Video of the devastation shows the rubble of flattened homes floating in floodwater. The town's natural swamplands appear to have been subsumed by the storm's torrential rain, covering much of the terrain in shallow, standing water.
Lilliott said the devastation won't stop her from returning.
"I just love it," she said. "It was good, good times, good memories. I would move here. Regardless."
Nearby today, a man in a work-duty pickup and another coordinated to move a felled tree from a road that leads to Dekle Beach.
High said it's not just the coastal environment the makes Dekle Beach special. "It's the people," she said.
Helene's storm surge leaves Florida residents stranded
A large swath of Florida's Gulf Coast saw dangerously high storm surge from Hurricane Helene.