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.

Hundreds of thousands of homes are without power. Many are flooded. Streets are impassible. Emergency services are inundated with pleas for help. And reports of people fleeing from overnight surge are still pouring in.

Hurricane Helene is expected to make landfall in Florida Thursday evening but is already impacting the Tampa Bay area.