Helene made landfall late Thursday, September 26, as a major category 4 hurricane in the Florida Big Bend region just east of the mouth of the Aucilla River. At landfall, maximum sustained winds were 140 mph. It turned northward as it entered the state of Georgia, steered by a large area of low pressure to the west.

Helene was the strongest storm to ever hit Florida’s Big Bend region. As it made its way across the Southeast, the storm inundated towns with floods and mudslides, killing at least 60.

Days of driving rain followed Helene slamming into Florida's Gulf Coast on Thursday night. More than 3 million customers faced power outages over the weekend after unprecedented storm surges, ferocious winds and perilous conditions that extended hundreds of miles inland.