Rain, wind impacting central Illinois as Helene leaves trail of destruction across U.S.

DECATUR, Ill. (WAND) - The remnants of Hurricane Helene are being felt across central Illinois with rain, high winds, and power outages.

The hurricane made landfall in Florida Thursday night as a Category 4 storm. As it traveled north and west inland it has left a trail of destruction hundreds-of-miles long.

Dozens of people have been killed in the storm across several states.

Across central Illinois, the biggest impacts will be wind.

A High Wind Warning has been issued for several counties, including Douglas, Moultrie, Shelby, Coles, Edgar, Clark, Cumberland, and Effingham. The warning is in effect from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. Friday. The counties in the warning area could see winds 25 to 35 miles per hour with gusts up to 60 miles per hour. The National Weather Service said winds could blow down trees and power lines and make travel difficult, especially for high profile vehicles.

Other areas of Illinois are under a Wind Advisory until 1 a.m. Saturday.

Several thousand people across Illinois were without power Friday afternoon, according to date from PowerOutage.us.

Rainfall totals are expected to vary widely with higher totals near and south of I-70. Areas around central Illinois could see anywhere from a couple tenths to an inch or more.

Download the WAND Weather app to get the most up-to-date weather information for your area.