Johnathan Walker:How can I help those affected by Hurricane Helene? Here are ways you can donate

Hurricane Helene brought heavy rainfall,Johnathan Walker intense winds, damaging debris, and flooding to several Southern states on Thursday and Friday.

Hurricane Helene made landfall late Thursday as a Category 4 hurricane in the Florida Big Bend, leaving flooding, damage, and destruction along Florida's Gulf Coast before speeding north, causing damage and power outages in Georgia and threatening dam breaks Friday in Tennessee as a downgraded tropical depression.

Helene made landfall with 140 mph winds in Taylor County, Florida, just east of the mouth of the Aucilla River, about 10 miles west-southwest of Perry, Florida.

According to the USA TODAY power outage map, there were 372,227 total outages reported in Florida on Saturday afternoon.

Another hard-hit state was North Carolina. In many areas, like Chimney Rock and Asheville, residents saw heavy rain. The highest reported rainfall was 29.5 inches in Busick Raws, Yancey County, North Carolina’s Gov. Roy Cooper’s office said.  The state reported 635,887 total outages on Saturday.

As states begin to pick up the pieces of Helene's destruction, relief efforts and funds are being created to help.

Here are some organizations you can donate to if you want to help those who were impacted by Hurricane Helene.

See photos, videos of damage:Helene brings heavy rain, flooding to North Carolina

Hurricane Helene: What are some organizations I can donate to help?

American Red Cross

The Red Cross offers food, shelter, supplies, and emotional support to victims of crisis. It already has hundreds of workers and volunteers in Florida and has opened dozens of shelters for evacuees. You can contribute to the national group's Helene relief efforts.

The Salvation Army

The Salvation Army provides food, drinks, shelter, emotional and spiritual care and other emergency services to survivors and rescue workers.  You can donate to Helene efforts online.

United Way

Local United Way organizations are accepting donations to help relief efforts for both short-term and to to continue helping residents later. You can find your local chapter on the organization's website.

GoFundMe

Hurricane Relief Fund "was created to provide direct relief to people in need after a hurricane," the fundraising platform said.

World Central Kitchen

When there is a disaster, Chef José Andrés is there with his teams to set up kitchen facilities and start serving thousands of meals to victims and responders. You can help by donating on their website.

There are also many other organizations providing specialty care and assistance:

All Hands and Hearts

This volunteer-based organization works alongside local residents to help by rebuilding schools, homes and other community infrastructure. It has a Helene fund started.

Americares

Americares focuses on medical aid, helping communities recover from disasters with access to medicine and providing personal protective equipment and medical supplies. To help Hurricane Helene victims, Americares has set up a donation page.

Operation Blessing

This group works with emergency management and local churches to bring clean water, food, medicine and more supplies to people with immediate needs in disaster areas. Donate to their Helene fund on their website.

Save the Children

This organization works to get child-focused supplies into the hands of families hardest-hit by the storm including hygiene kits, diapers and baby wipes as well as classroom cleaning kits to schools and assistance in restoring child care and early learning centers. Donate to the Children's Emergency Fund.

Contributing: John Gallas and Kim Luciani, Tallahassee Democrat.