**Hurricane Helene Leaves 22 Dead and Causes Widespread Flooding in Southern Appalachians**

The remnants of Hurricane Helene have deeply impacted regions inland after striking Florida's Big Bend area as a powerful Category 4 storm. The storm made landfall at approximately 11:10 p.m. EDT on Thursday near Perry, Florida, and has since traversed through Georgia and into Tennessee, heading towards Kentucky. With it, the hurricane has brought "historic and catastrophic flooding" to the southern Appalachian region.

As of Friday, at least 22 fatalities have been reported, with Georgia experiencing the highest number of storm-related deaths at 11, including one emergency worker. The destructive path of Helene also led to the temporary closure of Tampa International Airport, which shut its doors to the public at 2 a.m. EDT on Thursday in anticipation of the storm. Operations at the airport resumed by Friday morning, and fortunately, no significant damage was reported there.

Hurricane Helene has also caused substantial disruptions in air travel, with hundreds of flights canceled or delayed across major airports, including Charlotte Douglas International Airport, Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport, and Asheville Regional Airport. This has left many travelers stranded or facing significant delays.

Helene is the eighth named storm of this year's Atlantic hurricane season, which the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicted to be unusually busy, forecasting up to 25 named storms and 13 hurricanes. However, the season has not been as active as predicted so far. This follows the recent landfall of Hurricane Francine, which struck Louisiana as a Category 2 storm on September 11.

The storm has caused immense hardship and disruption, and the full extent of the damage is still being assessed as Helene continues its trek northward.