Five deaths were reported overnight in Pinellas County, Florida, officials said.

"It’s hard, but we will continue to recover as a community, and we will do everything in our power to continue restoration efforts for our residents," county emergency management director Cathie Perkins said at a news conference. "It’s going to take a while for Pinellas County to look like it did three days ago."

The sheriff's office said two of the deaths appear to be due to drowning.

Helene, which was downgraded to a tropical storm, is located 30 miles southwest of Bryson City, North Carolina, with maximum sustained winds of 45 mph. It’s moving north at 32 mph, the National Hurricane Center said in an 11 a.m. advisory. 

Flash flood emergencies are in effect for the metro Atlanta area and much of upstate South Carolina and western North Carolina. 

The tropical storm warning for the Georgia coast has been discontinued and all storm surge warnings have been discontinued. However, a tropical storm warning is in effect for the Savannah River northward to the Little River inlet. 

Helene is forecast to slow down in forward speed soon and stall over the Tennessee Valley tonight and through the weekend. 

Water levels are expected to recede along the Florida Gulf Coast and portions of the southeast U.S. coast today. Tropical storm conditions are unfolding along much of the South Carolina coast, and will continue for several hours. Helene is forecast produce 3 to 6 inches of rain, for total rain accumulations of 6 to 12 inches, for portions of the Central and Southern Appalachians. 

A man and his dog are rescued by the U.S. Coast Guard after his sailboat became disabled yesterday during Hurricane Helene approximately 25 miles off Sanibel Island, Fla.

Two deaths were reported out of Anderson County, South Carolina, as Helene battered the state, both involving trees falling on homes.

The Anderson County Coroner's Office responded to a death reported around 8:30 a.m. this morning on West Whitner Street in Anderson, and a second report around 10:15 a.m. on Williams Road off of Whiten Road in Anderson, coroner's office spokesperson Alyssa H. Whitfield said.

North Carolina residents who live below the Lake Lure Dam in Rutherford County were told to evacuate to higher ground immediately because water is overtopping the dam.

A shelter has been set up at the Rutherfordton Presbyterian Church, the Rutherford County Emergency Management said in a Facebook post.

First responders conducted dozens of high-water rescues in areas hit by flash flooding triggered by Hurricane Helene.

Over 4 million are without power now across the Southeast. 

In South Carolina there are 1.3 million customers without power, over 1 million out in Florida and Georgia, over 640,000 out in North Carolina and over 66,000 out in Tennessee, according to PowerOutage.US numbers as of 10 a.m.

This morning Helene is a tropical storm located 80 miles northeast of Atlanta moving north at 30 mph with 60 mph winds. 

Today it’ll bring significant impacts to parts of the Southeast, Ohio Valley and Tennessee Valley with 42 million people under flood alerts. Life-threatening flash flooding will continue today especially in the Atlanta metro area, western North Carolina into the Virginia mountains and western/middle Tennessee. 

Twelve million people are at risk for tropical tornadoes across the eastern Carolinas and southern Virginia including the cities of Charleston, Wilmington, Charlotte, Raleigh and Norfolk. 

Destructive winds will also continue to cause power outages and crippling air delays at airports like Atlanta and Charlotte.  

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis told a news conference this morning that a person died in in Dixie County after a tree that fell on a home as Helene lashed the state.

That brings the Florida storm death toll to two and the overall Helene death toll to at least six, according to a count by NBC News.

The other Florida fatality was reported last night after a sign fell onto a car. Three deaths have been reported thus far in Georgia and one in North Carolina.