More than 3 million customers without power
Nearly 3.3 million customers woke up without power in South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, Florida and Ohio, according to PowerOutage.us.
That includes nearly 2 million customers in the Carolinas, and 770,000 in Georgia, as the post-tropical cyclone unleashed life-threatening flooding and prompted evacuation warnings, the website reported today.
Video captures rescue after sailboat crashes into Florida pier
The U.S. Coast Guard carried out a daring rescue on Friday after a sailboat crashed into an old railroad pier as Hurricane Helene wreaked havoc in Boca Grande, Florida.
In a video taken by YouTuber Sailingwithyoshi, the boat can be seen trapped up against the pier amid heavy wind and choppy waters.
A helicopter hovers above the water as a rescuer descends to lift the first sailor to safety. “One person up,” a voice can be heard saying over the sound of ferocious winds and helicopter propellers.
A second figure is then airlifted out of the water before the helicopter flies away, receiving a thumbs up from the cameraman.
Two other storms spin in the Atlantic
As the remnants of Hurricane Helene caused major flooding in the Southeast today, the Atlantic was serving up two more storms.
Hurricane Isaac was spinning east-northeast at 16 mph about 890 miles west of the Azores Islands, according to an 11 p.m. ET public advisory from the National Hurricane Center.
Maximum sustained winds have been measured at 90 mph, far above the 74 mph required for Category 1 hurricane status, the center said.
While it continued to strengthen amid the Atlantic’s warm water, Isaac’s expected path to the northeast will put it over cooler water, and it was expected to weaken to a post-tropical cyclone by Monday, federal forecasters said.
It’s existence in a desolate part of the Atlantic means it’s unlikely to wreak havoc for people, though it could generate life-threatening surf for the Azores, they said.
The other storm is Tropical Storm Joyce, which was 1,205 miles east of the Northern Leeward Islands, according to the hurricane center’s 11 p.m. public advisory for the storm.
It was moving west-northwest at 12 mph and was maintaining its strength level of 50 mph maximum sustained winds, the center said. It, too, had few impacts for people so far, although forecasters warned that it could generate waves of 12 to 14 feet.
University of Colorado meteorologist Philip Klotzbach said on social media platform X that it’s been a little more than a year since the Atlantic has had three named storms at the same time, specifically Aug. 31, 2023, when Franklin, Idalia and Jose were active.
In the Eastern Pacific, John, which was once a hurricane, made landfall along Mexico’s Pacific coast, killing at least eight people and causing flooding in cities including Acapulco, the Associated Press reported.
It was downgraded to a remnant but was still expected to produce between 1 to 4 inches of rainfall in some areas, the National Hurricane Center said this afternoon.
Evacuations ordered amid concerns of breach of 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.
Homes and businesses in the Centerview and Bybee area are being evacuated, Cooke County Mayor Rob Mathis said. And a mandatory evacuation was issued for all residents of south Hamblen County along the Nolichucky River.
Stranded patients and staff rescued from flooded Tennessee hospital
More than 50 people were rescued Friday from an eastern Tennessee hospital due to fast-rising water and high winds, Ballad Health officials said.
The high winds and water levels prevented helicopter crews from airlifting patients and staff from Unicoi County Hospital in Erwin, Tennessee, hospital officials said.
Unicoi County Emergency Medical Services Director Adam Copas said some first responders were trapped inside the hospital with patients and 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.
“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 told NBC News' Tom Llamas.
Clearwater woman describes damage from Hurricane Helene
Laura Brafford, a resident of Clearwater, spoke to NBC News’ Tom Llamas about the devastating impact of Hurricane Helene on her home, which was flooded with four feet of water.
Brafford, her husband and two children evacuated from their home before the storm hit and says the damage is devastating.
She said they took extra precautions after Hurricane Idalia hit their home, installing floodgates.
“We felt like we had done what we could to mitigate that compared to what we had gotten with Idalia. But in the end, this surpassed completely what we had gotten that storm, and it was definitely shocking,” she said.
Brafford said she has learned to never let her guard down when it comes to storms saying, “safety comes first, and any inconveniences from evacuating comes second.”