ATLANTA — Despite hitting Central Georgia as a weaker storm than expected, Hurricane and Tropical Storm Helene proved to still be a deadly storm when it arrived in the area.
According to Gov. Brian Kemp's office, 15 people were killed during the course of the storm statewide. In Central Georgia alone, six people — including two children — lost their lives as a result of Hurricane Helene.
"This was a deadly storm," Kemp said during an afternoon press conference. "I would ask all Georgians, like the Kemp family is doing, to keep these folks and these communities in your thoughts and prayers."
When Hurricane Helene hit Valdosta as a Category 2 storm, Helene defied predictions, taking an eastward track to Augusta.
"The storm actually moved a little different than predicted," Kemp said. "Which if you were in that path, or certainly on the right side or dirty side of that storm, it was a very hard hit."
Most of the deaths that occurred in Central Georgia happened on the eastern side of the storm. What remained of the eye of the storm moved through Laurens County in the early hours of Friday morning.
When Kemp spoke about the fatalities, he said they centered mainly along the core of the storm and the eastern parts of the storm.
"I can tell you, it was along the paths that the hurricane went," Kemp said.
Laurens and other counties in the path or to the east of it — mainly Wheeler and Washington Counties — felt the brunt of the storm's death toll in Central Georgia.
In one of Helene's outer bands ahead of landfall in Florida, two people were killed during a Wheeler County tornado warning after a suspected tornado overturned their mobile home, throwing the two 100 feet from their homes.
Two people were also killed in Laurens County because of the storm.
A woman from Kentucky was killed on I-16 after a tree fell on her car. Then, in Dublin, Doug Brownlee died early Friday morning after a tree fell on his home on Clairmont Drive.
In Washington County, two children — one 4 years old, another 7 years old — were killed when a tree fell through their bedroom ceiling.
It was a throughline that Kemp emphasized: falling trees proved to be deadly.
"The loss of life that we've seen, a lot of it has been by fallen trees because of saturated grounds," Kemp said. "Even though the winds are starting to die down, there are still trees literally falling."
Outside of Central Georgia, nine others were killed during the storm, including a firefighter in Blackshear.
"We know one of those was a first responder," Kemp said. "We lost one of our finest lost his life while trying to save others."
In his press conference, Kemp said the recovery effort continues to ramp into full gear.
Before the storm, Kemp announced a state of emergency, freeing up state resources and opening the door for further federal assistance.
Right now, the state has authorized up to 1500 members of the state national guard freed up due to the state of emergency to help respond to the storm, including assisting in search and rescue operations. This afternoon, there were 500 members of the guard deployed into the field.