Hurricane Helene caused significant flooding, impacting numerous REIT-owned properties. Read why financial impact on REITs is likely less severe than it appears.

After hitting Florida’s Gulf Coast, Helene tore through the Southeast, unleashing historic rain and flooding in parts of Georgia and the Carolinas and leaving dozens of people dead and millions without power. Helene’s trail of destruction and record-breaking floods could rank among the costliest storms in U.S. history.

Hurricane Helene, a powerful Category 4 storm when it made landfall, carved out a devastating path from Florida’s Gulf Coast to Tennessee. Reports of destruction and record-level flooding stretched more than 600 miles. As of Saturday, officials had reported at least 60 deaths from the storm.

The highest death toll was in North Carolina, where flooding wiped out whole communities. Residents there and across vast areas of the Southeast were without water, power, phone and internet communication.

North Carolina has been devastated by flooding and mudslides after the remnants of Hurricane Helene tore through the state.

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.

Visuals from Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina tell an awful tale of Hurricane Helene's wrath, which made landfall as Category 4 storm.

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,