Helene -- which has strengthened to a major Category 4 hurricane -- made landfall in the Big Bend region of Florida on Thursday with 140 mph winds.
510,000 in Georgia lose power
The number of Georgians disconnected from the electricity grid rose to 510,265 in the early hours of Friday as Hurricane Helene passed into the state from Florida, according to poweroutages.us.
Another 1.3 million people in Florida were without power following Helene’s passage north from the Gulf of Mexico.
-ABC News’ David Brennan
Helene’s center to pass east of Macon, Georgia
The center of Hurricane Helene is projected to pass east of Macon, Georgia, after 3 a.m. ET, according to the latest forecast.
Hurricane warnings and tropical storm warnings remain in effect through the early morning hours of Friday.
The storm is expected to slow and weaken on Friday, turning northwestward to move through Georgia toward the Tennessee-North Carolina border, the National Hurricane Center said.
-ABC News’ Richard Von Ohlen
Helene downgraded to Category 1
Hurricane Helene was downgraded to a Category 1 hurricane in the early hours of Friday having moved around 100 miles inland into Florida and Georgia.
Its sustained winds dropped to 90 mph, with further weakening expected through to 5 a.m. ET.
Helene is maintaining speed at around 26 mph, heading north-northeast through central Georgia.
Macon, Atlanta, and Augusta are expected to experience damaging winds and torrential rain over the next two to three hours.
"Life-threatening storm surge, winds and heavy rains continue," the National Hurricane Center wrote on X.
-ABC News' Richard Von Ohlen
Helene death toll rises to 3
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp confirmed that two people were killed during Hurricane Helene's passage into Georgia overnight, bringing the storm's total death toll to three.
Kemp said he and his family were "saddened to learn of the loss of two lives in Wheeler County this evening. As we join their families in mourning their deaths, we urge all Georgians to brace for further impact from Helene, remain vigilant and pray for all those affected."
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said in a press conference late Thursday that one person was killed on the I-4 highway near Tampa when a sign fell on a car.
-ABC News' Ahmad Hemingway
Over 1 million now without power in Florida
Just after Hurricane Helene made landfall over Florida, the number of customers without power crossed the 1 million mark.
Outages extended into neighboring Southern states with over 46,000 customers without power in Georgia and over 12,400 customers without power in North Carolina, according to powerouttages.us.
Virginia and South Carolina are facing power outages as well with over 7,200 and over 5,500 customers without power in each state respectively.