However, much of Florida, including the Tampa Bay region, continued to be under a storm surge warning early Friday morning. That means officials continued to project potentially life-threatening flooding. The worst of the storm is now headed for Georgia.

A catastrophic and deadly storm surge is likely along portions of the Florida Big Bend coast, where inundation could reach as high as 20 feet.

Hurricane Helene, a massive, destructive Category 4 hurricane causing catastrophic storm surge, made landfall late Thursday night. More than 1.2 million homes and businesses are without power.