Florida Power Outages: Monitor Extensive Interruptions Due to Helene
As of Friday morning, over one million residents in Florida were still experiencing power outages, despite Hurricane Helene weakening into a tropical storm while moving through Georgia.
The storm initially brought winds of 140 mph along with heavy rainfall just hours after it struck land late Thursday in Florida’s Big Bend area, marking the first Category 4 storm to hit this area since records began in 1851.
After several hours of remaining a hurricane as it moved inland into northern Florida and into Georgia, the National Hurricane Center downgraded Helene to a tropical storm with sustained winds dropping to 70 mph by 5 a.m. ET.
While hurricane and tropical storm warnings have been lifted along both coasts of Florida, around 1.2 million residents were still without power on Friday morning, according to YSL News’s outage map, with Pinellas County being the hardest hit, reporting 234,000 customers without electricity.
Additionally, residents in Georgia are facing power outages as the tropical storm moves into their state. Georgia can expect significant storm surges and coastal flooding, particularly in areas like Savannah, which may experience flooding that lasts into Friday night.
Stay updated below for the most current power outage information in Florida as Helene impacts the area.
Florida power outage map
Over 2.5 million homes and businesses across Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina were without electricity early Friday morning as Helene caused strong winds and intense rain in the area.
The majority of outages reported were in Florida, particularly along the Big Bend coastline. By Friday morning, approximately 1.2 million utility customers were still in the dark, as reported by YSL News’s power outage tracker.