A Georgia mom and her twin babies were among at least 40 killed in Hurricane Helene’s devastating wake as the storm pounded the Deep South with floods, harsh winds and falling trees Friday.
The family lived in McDuffie County, Ga., near Augusta, officials said. Their names and cause of death weren’t immediately clear.
The fatalities came after the storm made landfall as a catastrophic category 4 hurricane in Florida Thursday, soaking the region with torrential rainfall and life-threatening winds.
One of the largest storms ever recorded in the Gulf of Mexico, Helene slammed Florida’s Big Bend with winds of 140 mph before it was downgraded to a tropical depression Friday afternoon, according to the National Hurricane Center.
As the hurricane raged, a couple was killed in Wheeler County, near Macon, as strong winds overturned their mobile home.
A first responder trying to save lives also died in Georgia — along with dozens more victims across the southeast.
“The loss of life that we’ve seen — a lot of it has been by fallen trees because of the saturated ground,” Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp said, calling his state a “dangerous environment.”
Meanwhile, more than 800 flights had been canceled and millions were without power Friday as flash flood emergency not seen since 1919 was declared in the region.
In total, seven people died in Florida, including a person killed when a tree fell on his home in the state’s Big Bend Region.
Another person was killed when winds knocked a road sign off Interstate 4 near Tampa and it landed on their car, causing it to crash, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said.
“That just shows you that it’s very dangerous conditions out there,” DeSantis said during the storm.
Five total are dead in Pinellas County in the Sunshine State, officials said.
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“It’s going to take a while for Pinellas County to look like it did three days ago,” local Emergency Management Director Cathie Perkins said at a press conference.
In Catawba County, North Carolina, a 4-year-old child was killed in a head-on car crash during “heavy rain conditions,” officials said.
Six people were also reported dead in South Carolina.
The death toll continues to rise as rescue efforts are underway in Georgia, Florida and other impacted states.
Two children were also hospitalized with life-threatening injuries, including a 12-year-old and a 2-year-old. A third child was hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries, NBC reports.
The two drivers Lyndsey Nicole Gaddis, 32, and Tiffany Miner Sipe, 34, were also hospitalized.
