At 4:54 a.m. on Friday morning, the National Hurricane Center shared a post on X announcing Helene was downgraded to a tropical storm as it traveled inland over Georgia. See images, videos posted on social media from the aftermath of Florida's encounter with Hurricane Helene.

And for a long time, hurricanes have been a fact of life ‒ and usually mild enough to ride out in town. Locals threw hurricane parties, cracking open beers and howling defiance at the wind.