Live updates: Hurricane Helene downgraded to a tropical storm

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Hurricane Helene made landfall late Thursday night along Florida’s Big Bend as a Category 4 storm.

Action News Jax will be following the latest developments for Northeast Florida and Southeast Georgia LIVE as they happen below. Refresh this page for the latest.

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5 a.m.: Helene downgraded to a tropical storm

2:12 a.m.: Hurricane Helene is now a Category 1 storm with winds of 90 mph and is moving north-northeast at 26 mph.

1:20 a.m.: Hurricane Helene has been downgraded to a Category 2 storm as it moves into south Georgia.

1:09 a.m.: Due to sustained winds reaching 45 mph and higher, Glynn County said its first responders and those for the City of Brunswick – Police, Fire and Public Works – are unable to safely respond to emergency calls. First responders crews have been issued “shelter-in-place” orders until conditions are deemed safe, the county said.

The county said that this does not mean that these agencies are unable to respond to any call, but that all calls will be considered on a case-by-case basis to ensure the safety of first responders.

12:21 a.m. Friday: Action News Jax’s Annette Gutierrez is in Ware County, where fire crews contained a fire on Swamp Road. Officials said 200,000 pounds of dried palmetto berries went up in flames. Luckily, no one was hurt.

11:32 p.m.: The National Weather Service in Jacksonville said it has lost power and radars are down. The National Weather Service in New Orleans is backing up NWS Jacksonville.

11:23 p.m.: A confirmed tornado has touched down in Columbia County, Chief Meteorologist Mike Buresh said.

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11:11 p.m.: Helene has made landfall along Florida’s Big Bend as a Category 4 hurricane.

6:21 p.m.: Helene has been upgraded to a Category 4 hurricane.

6:16 p.m.: Nassau County has temporarily suspended beach driving beginning at 6 p.m. Thursday. This includes the county beaches (Peters Point south to the State Park) and the segment of City Beach by Slider’s (Seaside Park).

It is asked that all residents and visitors stay off the beaches as higher-than-normal tides are expected throughout the evening and into the day on Friday.

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5:37 p.m.: A tornado warning is in effect for St. Johns County until 5:45 p.m.

5:08 p.m.: The Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department said trees are already starting to come down in Jacksonville. JFRD posted on X a picture of a tree on power lines. It happened in the 1400 block of 45th Street.

4:48 p.m.: The St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office will send its Incident Management Team to Florida’s Big Bend.

The first team will leave at 6 a.m. Friday, SJSO said in a Facebook post.

Action News Jax will have the latest updates on TV beginning at 5 p.m.

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