Dozens dead and millions without power as Hurricane Helene hits US

Torrential rain from Hurricane Helene caused lake levels to rise on Lake James in Morganton, North Carolina (Kathy Kmonicek/AP/PA)

Dozens of people have died after Hurricane Helene raced across a wide area of the south-eastern US, with more than three million customers being left without power.

Helene blew ashore in Florida’s Big Bend region as a category four hurricane late on Thursday, packing winds of 140mph and quickly moving through Georgia, the Carolinas and Tennessee, uprooting trees, splintering homes and sending creeks and rivers over their banks and straining dams.