(CNN) Hurricane Hermine made landfall early Friday in Florida with a furious mix of rain, whistling winds and surging waves — then weakened into a tropical storm as it wobbled toward Georgia.
Hermine, which had maximum sustained winds of 80 mph, was the first hurricane to come ashore in Florida since Wilma struck 11 years ago.
It made landfall as a Category 1 hurricane in the Big Bend area on the Gulf Coast where the state’s peninsula meets the Panhandle.
In Tallahassee, more than 100,000 utility customers were without power as winds and rain lashed the city, according to the mayor’s office.
At least one man died during the storm, having been struck by a tree in Marion County in north-central Florida, Gov. Rick Scott said Friday. The state is waiting for a medical examiner’s office to confirm he died as a result of the storm, Scott said.
Downgraded
A few hours after landfall, Hermine had weakened into a tropical storm, according to the National Hurricane Center.
All hurricane watches and warnings were dropped, but tropical storm warnings remained for parts of the Florida Gulf Coast, Georgia and up through North Carolina.
By dawn Friday, the tropical storm was 20 miles west of Valdosta, Georgia, and moving north at 14 mph, according to the hurricane center.“This motion is expected to continue today and Saturday,” the center said. “On the forecast track, the center of Hermine should continue to move farther inland across southeastern Georgia today and into the Carolinas tonight and Saturday.”
Its maximum sustained winds decreased to 70 mph, with additional weakening forecast as it moves farther inland.
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