Editor's note: This information was current as of Sept. 25, 2024. Here's the latest on Helene and the Upstate. For the latest coverage of Helene from across South Carolina, visit Hurricane Wire.
The Upstate will feel the effects of Hurricane Helene.
As Greenville grapples with widespread power outages, Upstate residents should expect more rain this afternoon starting around 3 p.m. and into the night. This rain is before any tropical bands from Helene reach the region.
Helene is over the Gulf of Mexico and set to make landfall on Florida's Big Bend region around 7 p.m. Sept. 26 as a major hurricane, continuing northward through Georgia and the western half of South Carolina as the week progresses.
Helene is forecast to push through the Upstate the night of Sept. 26 and into the morning of Sept. 27, according to National Weather Service forecaster Clay Chaney.
The rainfall totals from the evening of Sept. 24 and through Sept. 25 are set to make Helene even more dangerous with the ground already saturated.
"With the winds coming in from Helene and the additional rainfall, you're looking at numerous trees down, power outages, flash flooding, landslides in the mountains," Chaney said. "This is going to be a doozy of an event."
Rainfall predictions for Pickens, Oconee and Greenville counties are at 10-15 inches. More than a foot of rain could fall on the mountains in the region, creating the potential for flash flooding and landslide threats. A flood watch is already in place until 2 p.m. Sept. 27 that stretches from Spartanburg County to Oconee and Anderson, and a tropical storm watch was issued just before noon for the Upstate and southern Midlands.
Wind gusts are expected to be around 50 to 60 miles per hour, especially close to the Georgia state line.
"The closer you are to the center of (Helene), the higher your wind speeds are going to be," Chaney said.
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How to prepare for Helene
Residents should prepare with a sense of urgency, Chaney said. It will be helpful to gather first aid kits, phones, phone chargers, water bottles, weather radios, nonperishable foods and flashlight batteries and put them together as a kit.
"The time to prepare is now," he said.
The Upstate usually does not get these kinds of storms. Tropical Storm Fred, back in mid-August 2021, is the most recent comparison point to Helene. Fred had similar conditions with significant rainfall in the area before Fred even arrived.
"It's actually pretty similar in that we're getting all this rainfall prior to when Helene gets up here and that's just going to make matters worse," Chaney said.
Reporter David Ferrara contributed to this report.