The storm made landfall in the sparsely-populated Big Bend area, home to fishing villages and vacation hideaways in Florida’s Panhandle.

Helene roared through Florida and Georgia under darkness on Friday as one of the most powerful storms to hit the U.S., killing at least four people, swamping neighborhoods and leaving more than 3 million homes and businesses without power.

Helene came ashore amid warnings from the National Hurricane Center that the enormous system could create a “nightmare” storm surge. There were at least four storm-related deaths. Hurricane John once again weakened into a tropical storm Thursday evening as the slow-moving storm crept along the coast of the Mexican state of Michoacan,