Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp provides an update on hurricane preparations Thursday ahead of Hurricane Helene making landfall in Florida. Jill Nolin |Georgia Recorder
Hurricane Helene has resulted in the deaths of at least 11 individuals in Georgia, including a first responder, with others still trapped inside buildings in the most severely affected areas.
“At this point, this storm has been deadly,” stated Gov. Brian Kemp during a briefing on Friday. “When we urge people to stay off the roads and be patient, it’s because we are working towards reaching those in need. It’s a very hazardous situation, and one of our own lost his life trying to rescue others.”
Kemp mentioned there are “multiple structures” where people are trapped. In Valdosta, 115 buildings have been identified as heavily damaged, some with individuals still trapped inside as of midday Friday.
“We will have to physically access situations like this,” he added.
Kemp refrained from sharing specific details about the 11 fatalities, except to say that they were all in the storm’s path. He also mentioned that next of kin is still being notified.
The first responder who lost his life was a part-time assistant fire chief in Blackshear named Vernon “Leon” Davis, who was killed when a tree fell on his truck, as reported by Jacksonville-based First Coast News reported. He had been clearing downed trees and power lines.
Reports as of noon on Friday indicated that more than 2 dozen people had died across the region from Florida to the Carolinas, with Georgia having the highest number of fatalities.
Hurricane Helene swept through Georgia during the night, leaving approximately 1 million locations without power in the state.
The storm made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane a little after 11 p.m. in Taylor County, Florida, with 140 mile-per-hour winds. It remained a hurricane until 5 a.m. Friday, approximately six hours after making landfall, according to Ken Graham, director of the National Weather Service.
“At six hours, the storm was still a hurricane, causing considerable damage in Georgia as well,” Graham noted. “The tropical storm force winds extended all the way to upstate South Carolina, which is quite remarkable, given the extent of the winds in the storm. At times, the tropical storm force winds reached up to about 350 miles away from the center, which is quite staggering.”
Preliminary analysis suggests up to 11 inches of rain in some parts of the affected area, including Georgia.
The full extent of the storm’s impact was still being evaluated in the daylight on Friday, but Kemp mentioned that initial reports indicate the damage may be worse than that caused by Hurricane Michael in 2018, which devastated the state’s agriculture industry.
“We know it’s one of the widest wind fields ever in the Atlantic, making it a statewide event for us here in Georgia. We have a lot of work ahead of us. We need to assess a lot of damage,” Kemp remarked.
Agriculture Commissioner Tyler Harper stated on Friday that “east of I-75 we’re seeing significant damage to agriculture across all commodities.”
Kemp urged individuals to stay at home if possible while crews work in the aftermath of the storm and cautioned Georgians not to become complacent despite the clearing skies.
“For those in the metro area, it is still very perilous out there. Much of the loss of life we’ve seen has been due to falling trees caused by saturated ground, and even though the winds are starting to calm down, trees are still falling,” he warned.
To emphasize his point, Kemp shared that a tree fell across the driveway at the governor’s mansion shortly after he left for the state operations center.
In north Georgia, the risk of flooding remains as the state’s waterways continue to rise over the next day or so.
Georgia Recorder reporter Ross Williams contributed to this report.
This story was originally produced by the Georgia Recorder which is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network, including the Daily Montanan, supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity.
