Tropical Storm Helene to impact Middle Georgia starting Wednesday evening

Tropical Storm Helene, projected to make landfall later this week as a hurricane, should bring high winds and heavy rainfall to Middle Georgia beginning late Wednesday evening.

Helene should build enough wind speed to be categorized as a hurricane around 8 a.m. Wednesday before it hits the Big Bend area of Florida around sunset that same day, according to National Weather Service meteorologist Vaughn Smith.

Folks in Macon will begin to feel Helene’s effects before it even makes landfall, with wind and rain hitting late Wednesday evening. By daybreak Thursday, there will be 10-to-20 mile-an-hour winds and some rain in Macon.

Middle Georgia will face Helene’s strongest winds — 30-to-40 miles per hour with potential gusts of up to 50 —  Thursday night through early Friday morning. The statewide average rainfall is expected to be 3-5 inches Wednesday through Friday.

“You’ll definitely have some trees down, you’ll have some power outages, you’ll possibly have some flooding,” Smith told The Melody.

Helene is currently on track to travel just west of Macon before sunrise Friday before heading further north. Throughout the day Friday, skies will clear and winds will die off.

Residents are advised to stay updated on the weather forecast, be prepared for long power outages by charging batteries and devices ahead of time, buy 3-4 days worth of canned food and water and have a first aid kit prepared. To stay safe during flash flooding, move to higher areas.