Severe Weather

President Biden said Monday the federal government will be with survivors and others affected by Helene for “as long as it takes.”

Hurricane Helene’s remnants have dropped between a foot and two feet of rainfall in western North Carolina, devastating Asheville and other mountainous communities.

Jessica Drye Turner begged on Facebook for someone to rescue her family from a North Carolina rooftop. Help didn’t arrive in time to save her parents and her 6-year-old nephew.

Helene's path of destruction has left at least 56 people dead and entire homes and neighborhoods washed away in the Appalachian Mountains.

The death toll from Helene continues to rise as floodwaters force evacuations and wreak havoc on the Southeast U.S.

"Water and ion batteries do not mix. They literally explode," Tampa Mayor Jane Castor warned on Friday, adding that even small electric scooters were blowing up because of Hurricane Helene's floodwaters.

Van Dillen, a journalist from the Atlanta area, heard a woman's desperate cries for help during Hurricane Helene. She had driven into floodwaters and was trapped in her car before sunrise Friday.

Emergency crews in Atlanta rescued a family early Friday morning after their vehicle was swept off the road by swift floodwaters.

Hurricane Helene made landfall as an "extremely dangerous" Category 4 storm in Florida's Big Bend region, with maximum sustained winds near 140 mph.

Hurricane Helene has made landfall along Florida's Nature Coast.

How will Hurricane Helene impact Chicagoland?

Helene strengthened into a hurricane on Wednesday and is expected to strengthen further – potentially becoming a major hurricane – before making landfall over Florida on Thursday. Life-threatening storm surge, damaging winds, torrential rain, and flooding are possible.

As the Category 1 hurricane formed Wednesday morning, it unleashed its fury in the Caribbean as its destructive eye is now set on the Florida coast with a life-threatening landfall expected on Thursday. The NHC said that the storm would bring "life-threatening storm surge, damaging winds and flooding rains" as it heads toward the U.S. Gulf Coast.

Tropical Storm Helene is nearing hurricane strength just offshore of the northeastern coast of the Yucatan Peninsula toward the Gulf of Mexico, according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC). It's expected to become a major hurricane (Category 3 or higher) before making landfall in Florida's Big Bend region on Thursday.