Crawfordville, Fla. (AP) — Hurricane Helen strengthened four hours earlier than expected to make landfall on Florida’s northwest coast Thursday night, forecasters warned, and the massive system could create a “brutal” storm surge and bring dangerous winds and rain. Much of the southeastern United States
Helena, which strengthened into a Category 3 storm early Thursday and triggered tornado and flash flood warnings, stretched off the coast into northern Georgia and western North Carolina. Strong winds have already knocked out power to 320,000 homes and businesses in Florida, according to monitoring site poweroutage.us. The governors of Florida, Georgia, Alabama, the Carolinas and Virginia all declared states of emergency.
The tornado was about 110 miles (175 kilometers) west of Tampa and had sustained winds of 130 mph (215 kph), the US National Hurricane Center said. Accelerating through the Gulf of Mexico, moving north-northeast at 23 mph (37 kph), life-threatening storm surges of up to 20 feet (6 meters) were expected in Florida’s Big Bend region.
Tornado warnings and flash flood warnings extended offshore into northern Georgia and western North Carolina, with heavy rain and gusty winds reported Thursday evening in Florida and Georgia.
It’s been a year since Helen arrived Cyclone Italia It crashed into Florida’s Big Bend and caused widespread damage. Italia became a Category 4 in the Gulf of Mexico, but made landfall as a Category 3 near Keaton Beach, with maximum sustained winds of 125 mph (205 kph).
The storm’s fury was felt Thursday afternoon, with water flooding the road at the north end of Siesta Key near Sarasota and covering some intersections along Florida’s Gulf Coast in St. Pete Beach. Logs and other debris from a fire in Cedar Key a week ago were washing ashore in the rising waters.
Beyond Florida, up to 10 inches (25 centimeters) of rain fell in the North Carolina mountains, with up to 14 inches (36 centimeters) falling before the flood ended, setting the stage for flooding that forecasters warned had not been seen in the past century.
Valdosta, Georgia, near the Florida state line, started to rain heavily and get windy. Tornado winds of 110 mph were possible in a dozen Georgia counties, the National Weather Service said.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said models suggested Helen would make landfall further east than previously forecast, reducing the chances of a direct hit on the capital city of Tallahassee, whose metro area has about 395,000 people.
The storm is aimed squarely at the sparsely populated Big Bend region, home to fishing villages and vacation retreats where Florida’s Panhandle meets the peninsula.
“Please write your name, birthday and important information on your arm or leg in permanent marker so you can identify yourself and notify family,” the sheriff’s office in mostly rural Taylor County warned people who chose not to leave on Facebook. PositionBad advice similar to what other officials have done during past hurricanes.
However, Philip Duke, a commercial fisherman who took over the business his father founded near the region’s Apalachee Bay, planned to ride out this storm as he did. Hurricane Michael And others – on his boat. “If I lose that, I have nothing,” Duke said. Michael, a Category 5 storm, destroyed a city, destroyed thousands of homes and businesses and caused about $25 billion in damage when it hit the Florida Panhandle in 2018.
However, many heeded the compulsion eviction order It stretches from the Panhandle south to the Gulf Coast in low-lying areas around Tallahassee, Gainesville, Cedar Key, Lake City, Tampa, and Sarasota.
Among them was Sharonda Davis, one of many gathered at a Tallahassee shelter worried their mobile homes wouldn’t hold up in the wind. He said the size of the typhoon was “scarier than anything because we will have to deal with the aftermath”.
Federal officials conducted search and rescue teams as the National Weather Service office in Tallahassee issued a forecast. A storm is brewing up to 20 feet (6 meters) and warned that they are particularly “catastrophic and unsurvivable” in Apalachee Bay.
“Please, please, please take any evacuation orders seriously!” The office described the scene as “a nightmare”.
Known as Florida’s Forgotten Coast, this area has largely been spared the rampant condo development and commercialization that dominates many of Florida’s beach communities. The area is loved for its natural wonders – salt marshes, tidal pools and barrier islands.
“You live here and with a bad storm you can lose everything,” said Anthony Godwin, 20, who lives about half a mile (800 meters) from the water in the coastal town of Panacea. Gas before heading west toward his sister’s home in Pensacola.
School districts and many universities canceled classes. Airports in Tampa, Tallahassee and Clearwater were closed Thursday, while other locations in Florida and beyond were canceled.
While Helene will weaken as it moves inland, damaging winds and heavy rain are expected to extend into the southern Appalachian Mountains, where landslides are possible, forecasters said. The Cyclone Center has warned that much of the region may experience prolonged power outages and flooding. Tennessee was among the states expected to get drenched.
Helene swamped parts of Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula on Wednesday, flooding streets and uprooting trees as it crossed the coast and brushed the resort city of Cancun. In western Cuba, Helene knocked out power to more than 200,000 homes and businesses as it passed over the island.
Hurricane conditions are expected 100 miles (160 kilometers) north of the Georgia-Florida line. Most of Georgia’s public school districts and several universities canceled classes. The government opened its parks to evacuees and their pets, including horses. Overnight curfews were imposed in several south Georgia cities and counties, including Albany, Valdosta and Thomasville.
Rain and wind are expected to increase Thursday in Florida’s Big Bend region as Hurricane Helene approaches.
“This is one of the biggest storms we’ve ever had,” Georgia Governor Brian Kemp said.
For Atlanta, Helen could be the worst strike on a major southern inland city in 35 years, said University of Georgia meteorology professor Marshall Shepherd.
Helen is the eighth named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, which began on June 1. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is predicting an above-average Atlantic hurricane season this year. Because of the warmest ocean temperatures on record.
In further storm activity, Tropical Storm Isaac formed in the Atlantic on Wednesday and is expected to strengthen as it moves eastward across the open ocean, becoming a hurricane by the end of the week, forecasters said. Its swells and winds could affect parts of Bermuda and eventually the Azores over the weekend, officials said.
In the Pacific, Former Storm John It reformed into a tropical storm on Wednesday and strengthened back into a hurricane on Thursday as it threatened parts of Mexico’s west coast with flash flooding and mudslides. Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador raised John’s death toll to five as communities along the country’s Pacific coast braced for a second landfall from the storm.
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Hollingsworth reported from Kansas City, Missouri. Associated Press reporters Seth Borenstein in New York; Jeff Amy in Atlanta; Russ Bynum in Savannah, Georgia; Danica Cotto in San Juan, Puerto Rico; Andrea Rodriguez in Havana; Mark Stevenson and Maria Versa in Mexico City; and Claire Rush in Portland, Oregon contributed to this report.
