Crawfordville, Fla. (AP) – Tropical storm-force winds began pounding Florida on Thursday. Hurricane Helen The massive storm is poised to make landfall as forecasters warn it could create a “nightmare” surge along the coast and send damaging winds hundreds of miles inland across much of the southeastern United States.
Already strengthening to a major Category 3 storm, Helen is expected to strengthen further before making landfall in the northwest coast of Florida in the evening. Tornado and flash flood warnings extend up the coast into northern Georgia and western North Carolina.
The storm’s fury began to be felt Thursday afternoon, flooding roads 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. Wind gusts of 125 mph (205 kph) have already left 180,000 Florida homes and businesses without power.
Beyond Florida, up to 10 inches (25 centimeters) of rain fell in the North Carolina mountains, with as much as 14 inches (36 centimeters) falling before the flood ended, setting the stage for more flooding that forecasters warned of. In the last century.
As forecasters warned of tornadoes and mudslides, the governors of Florida, Georgia, the Carolinas and Virginia have all declared emergencies, as has President Joe Biden for several states. He is sending the head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency to Florida on Friday to survey the damage.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Thursday morning that models suggested Helen would make landfall further east than predicted, 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.
Owners secure their boats outside the Davis Islands Yacht Club ahead of Hurricane Helene, Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O’Meara)
However, Philip Duke, a commercial fisherman who took over the business his father founded near the region’s Apalachee Bay, plans to ride out this storm as he did. Hurricane Michael And others – on his boat. “If I lose that, I have nothing.”
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.
Along Florida’s Gulf Coast, school districts and several universities canceled classes. Airports in Tampa, Tallahassee and Clearwater were closed Thursday, while other locations across the state and beyond were canceled.
Wednesday, September 25, 2024, Tallahassee, Fla. (AP Photo/Bill Sears) A shopper walks past empty shelves in Walmart’s bread section.
Helen was about 130 miles (205 km) southwest of Tampa on Thursday evening and was packing north-northeast winds of 23 mph (37 kph) with sustained winds of at least 125 mph (205 kph).
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 center warned that large parts of the region could face prolonged power outages and floods. 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.
Helen will be one of the biggest storms in years to hit the region, said Colorado State University hurricane researcher Bill Klotzbach. Since 1988, only three Gulf hurricanes have been larger than Helen’s predicted size: 2017’s Irma, 2005’s Wilma, and 1995’s Opal.
Areas 100 miles (160 kilometers) north of the Georgia-Florida line can expect hurricane conditions. More than half of Georgia’s public school districts and several universities canceled classes. The government has opened its parks to evacuees and their pets, including horses. Overnight curfews were imposed in several cities and counties in south Georgia, including Albany, Valdosta and Thomasville.
“This is one of the biggest storms we’ve ever had,” said Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, who recognized 500 National Guard soldiers.
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 morning 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 on Thursday as communities along the country’s Pacific coast braced for the storm’s second landfall.
___
Hollingsworth reported from Kansas City, Missouri. Associated Press reporters Seth Borenstein in New York; Jeff Amy in Atlanta; 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.
