The NWS notified the WNC area at 11:21 a.m. that Helene has passed most of the area, but significant impacts including serious flooding continue. The storm is now located about 80 miles west-southwest of Asheville, centered over the Smoky Mountains and moving north at 32 mph.

By The Associated Press Hurricane Helene weakened into a tropical storm over Georgia early Friday after making landfall overnight in northwestern Florida as a Category 4 storm. Authorities rescued

Authorities rescued people trapped by floodwaters and more than 3 million customers were in the dark across much of the southeastern U.S. as Hurricane Helene weakened to a tropical storm over