AP PHOTOS: Hurricane Helene inundates the southeastern US

Tangled piles of nail-spiked lumber and displaced boats littered the streets. A house lay crushed under a fern-covered oak tree toppled by the winds. Residents waded or paddled through ruddy floodwaters, hoping to find their loved ones safe. And rescue crews used fan boats to evacuate stranded people in bathrobes or wrapped in blankets. Authorities on Friday were trying to get a handle on Hurricane Helene’s swath of destruction, which stretched across Florida, Georgia and much of the southeastern U.S. on Friday. At least 40 people have died in four states, and millions were without power. Helene was the eighth named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, which began June 1.