Busick, North Carolina, a remote town near Mount Mitchell State Park, received 30.78 inches of rain as a result of Helene — a record for the highest rainfall in the Appalachians from a tropical weather system. It beats the 27 inches that fell over the Virginian Appalachians in 1969.

Wednesday night into Thursday morning, Helene’s outer bands will start to lash Florida’s Gulf Coast. The worst of the conditions will be throughout the day on Thursday. Helene is forecast to make landfall Thursday night along Florida’s Big Bend region as a Category 3 hurricane.

Caravans of food, water and supplies were moving into western North Carolina on Monday as residents and local officials grappled with devastation never before seen in the region. The big picture: Hurricane Helene has left officials in six Southeastern states struggling to respond to the widespread destruction it caused after hitting Florida as a Category 4 storm last week,