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Hurricane Helene live updates: 52 dead across the South from catastrophic storm

Flooding remains a major threat through the weekend.

ByEmily Shapiro, David Brennan, Leah Sarnoff, Julia Reinstein, and Meredith Deliso
Last Updated: September 27, 2024, 9:55 AM EDT

Helene made landfall in Florida's Big Bend region Thursday night as a massive Category 4 hurricane -- the strongest hurricane to make landfall in the Big Bend on record.

The storm surge, wind damage and inland flooding from Helene has been catastrophic, leaving dozens dead.

Latest headlines:

Here's how the news is developing.
Sep 27, 2024, 8:38 AM EDT

'The water came in from everywhere'

JoAnn Martino told ABC News the water reached 2 feet inside her home in St. Pete Beach, Florida, just outside of St. Petersburg.

JoAnn Martino told ABC News the water reached 2 feet inside her home in St. Pete Beach, Florida, just outside of St. Petersburg.
1:14

Florida resident on Helene: 'The water came in from everywhere'

JoAnn Martino told ABC News the water reached 2 feet inside her home in St. Pete Beach, Florida, just outside of St. Petersburg.

"The water came in from everywhere all at once," she said.

"After using all our funds to rebuild after [Hurricane] Ian [in 2022], we just don't know what we will do this time," she said. "We've lost everything again."

PHOTO: An airboat transporting residents rescued from flood waters due to storm surge due from Hurricane Helene is seen Sept. 27, 2024 in Crystal River, Fla.
An airboat transporting residents rescued from flood waters due to storm surge due from Hurricane Helene is seen Sept. 27, 2024 in Crystal River, Fla.
Luis Santana/Tampa Bay Times/ZUMA via Shutterstock

-ABC News’ Helena Skinner

Sep 27, 2024, 8:23 AM EDT

Video shows deputy rescuing teen from flooded car

The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office in Tampa, Florida, released dramatic video showing the moment one of its deputies rescued a teenage girl who was trapped in her car in rising floodwaters. The deputy lifted her out of her car and drove her to safety.

Sep 27, 2024, 6:21 AM EDT

200 rescued from rising waters in Pasco County, Florida

About 200 people have been rescued overnight from the rising floodwaters in Pasco County, Florida, just north of Tampa, according to the Pasco Sheriff’s Office.

The water is receding Friday morning and rescue calls have slowed, authorities said.

Sep 27, 2024, 5:14 AM EDT

Helene weakens to tropical storm

Hurricane Helene was downgraded to a tropical storm around 100 miles southeast of Atlanta early on Friday, as its sustained wind speed slowed to 70 mph.

Life-threatening winds, flash flooding, rain and storm surge are ongoing through Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina.

Helene is expected to slow and weaken as it travels north-northwest through Georgia toward the Tennessee-North Carolina border, the National Hurricane Center said.

Helene is projected to turn post-tropical on Friday afternoon or Friday night, the NHC said.

"However, the fast forward speed will allow strong, damaging winds, especially in gusts, to penetrate well inland across the southeastern United States, including over the higher terrain of the southern Appalachians," the NHC said.

-ABC News' Max Golembo