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Hermine moving back toward the Atlantic, firmly in South Carolina as a tropical storm

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. --  Tropical Storm Hermine is getting a little bit weaker as it heads away from the First Coast.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Tropical Storm Hermine is getting a little bit weaker as it heads away from the First Coast.

The storm still is packing winds of 60 mph as of 8 p.m. It's located 35 miles southwest of Myrtle Beach, S.C. and is headed north-northeast at 20 mph, pickup up speed. Dangerous storm surge is expected in the Hampton Roads area.

Packing winds of 80 mph at the time, Hermine made landfall about 20 miles south-southeast of Tallahassee around 1:40 a.m. Friday morning.

The storm continued to whip across the First Coast, toppling trees and blowing up transformers.

The tropical system churning in the Gulf whipped up 80 mph winds that extended out 45 mph from the eye. Less severe but still dangerous tropical storm-force winds targeted several hundred miles of coastline, from Tampa to the Barrier Islands south of Pensacola.

Well over 200,000 homes lost power in the storm's path.

Conditions should continue to improve on the First Coast, with cleanup and power restoration firmly underway. Thousands have had their power restored in Jacksonville and Columbia/Baker counties, which were the hardest hit by the storm.

Governor Rick Scott issued a state of emergency for Florida in preparation for Hermine's arrival.

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