GREENVILLE — Hurricane Helene is expected to make landfall in Florida on Thursday evening and move upstate shortly thereafter, bringing risks of additional damage, power outages and flooding to some areas.

Greenville was hit by severe thunderstorms and high winds on the night of September 24. The city and power companies had to clean up the damage on September 25 before Helene arrived.

Now there is concern about flooding, Clay Chaney, a resident meteorologist with the National Weather Service, told The Post and Courier.

“With the ground already pretty saturated, the winds from Helene and the additional rainfall, you can expect to see a lot of downed trees, power outages, flash flooding and landslides in the mountains,” Chaney said. “So this is going to be a huge event.”

According to a NWS forecast, wind gusts of 40 to 50 mph are expected in Helene, with possible gusts as high as 70 mph.

The Post and Courier reporters are following the storm. Updates are provided here as Helene unfolds.

Calm before the storm

09:00 am Upstate continues to be business as usual until Helene’s arrival on Thursday evening.

The rain continued to fall steadily overnight, but it was noticeably less intense than the small storm that left 12,000 people without power on Wednesday morning.

Joggers made their usual rounds on the trails around Unity Park this morning, despite a light drizzle. Rainfall from the night before had swelled the Reedy River to within five or six feet of hitting the bottom of the Spinx Family Bridge along the Swamp Rabbit Trail.

The only other sign of potential trouble was the barriers erected by the city of Greenville that blocked pedestrian traffic to the main lawns of Unity Park.

Greenville Park rangers were busy clearing leaves and small branches from drainage ditches in Cleveland Park.

Neil Heuringer, who works for the city of Cleveland Parks and Recreation Department, worked with Storm Bruner, who has only been on the job for three weeks.

“We are only just preparing for the flood,” said Heuring.

Bruner smiled at the irony of his name.

“I’m brand new,” he said.

The Reedy River, which flows through the park downstream from Falls Park in the city centre, was flowing fast, but water levels were still at least two metres below flood stage.

—Anna Mitchell

How did the Greenville region prepare for Helene?

The city deployed significant resources Tuesday night to deal with a surprise “microburst” storm, including 60 firefighters, 25 police officers and six traffic engineering workers. Twenty-two public works workers worked overnight on cleanup efforts, and 34 worked throughout the day Wednesday.

Greenville Parks and Recreation crews reported more than 25 trees down in Cleveland, Falls and Unity Parks, along the Swamp Rabbit Trail and at the Greenville Zoo. According to the city’s website, city crews worked Wednesday to close off unsafe areas, remove downed trees and clear trails and roads in the park. Crews also worked to remove damaged trees that could pose a hazard in the next storm.

The city has also canceled all planned activities on Thursday at the Prisma Health Welcome Center in Unity Park, as well as Moonlight Movies in Falls Park.

While the microburst was unexpected, it did not impact the city’s resources or preparedness, spokeswoman Beth Brotherton said in a text message.

“When it comes to public safety and emergency response, we operate 24/7,” she said.

Most of the storm surge was contained to the city, so the county did not need to send out crews, county spokesman Bob Mihalic said. Like other buildings downtown, the county headquarters in Greenville’s West End was without power until about 2 p.m.

Officials are preparing for the approaching hurricane by making sure all the county’s generators have enough fuel, all county vehicles have full gas tanks and chain saws are working. Storms typically cause a lot of downed trees in the northernmost and southernmost parts of the county, Mihalic said.

Miracle Hill opened its shelters for people left homeless by the storm on Sept. 25 and will remain open through Sept. 27, a press release said.

The shelters offer more than 200 additional beds for men and women with children who need protection from the storm.

This is a living story. Check back regularly throughout the storm for more updates.