Hurricane Helene made landfall as a Category 4 storm over Florida’s Big Bend region late Thursday night around 11:10 p.m.
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The storm had maximum sustained winds of 140 mph when it hit land. This made it one of the strongest storms to ever strike the Big Bend area. This is the fourth hurricane to make landfall on the Gulf Coast in 2024, a rare occurrence that has only happened five times in recorded history.
By early Friday morning, over 1.2 million residents in Florida were without power. This number continued to rise as the storm progressed with more than 2.8 million customers in five states Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia left without electricity.
Affected States:
- Florida: 1.2 million without power.
- Georgia: 840,000 without power.
- South Carolina: 552,000 without power.
- North Carolina: 191,000 without power.
- Virginia: 9,000 without power.
The power outages were mainly caused by fallen trees and damaged power lines due to Hurricane Helene’s strong winds and heavy rains.
Hurricane Helene weakened to a tropical storm within hours after making landfall. By 5 a.m. on Friday, the storm was downgraded to tropical storm status with maximum sustained winds of 70 mph, just below hurricane status.
At 5 a.m., the center of Hurricane Helene was located about 40 miles east of Macon, Georgia and 100 miles southeast of Atlanta. It was moving northward at a speed of 30 mph.
Florida authorities issued mandatory evacuation orders for low-lying areas in and around cities like Tallahassee, Gainesville, Tampa and Sarasota. The evacuation orders aimed to protect residents from the anticipated storm surge and flooding.
Over 175 people took shelter in schools in Tallahassee with many residents evacuating to areas not directly in the storm’s path.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis confirmed that 3,500 National Guardsmen were on standby to respond to emergencies and provide relief to affected residents.
Hurricane Helene’s storm surge reached dangerous levels of 5 to 10 feet from Florida’s Aucilla River to Chassahowitzka. Some areas experienced water levels of 3 to 7 feet due to the surge.
Heavy rainfall of 6 to 12 inches with isolated totals nearing 20 inches, was predicted across parts of Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina. This \rainfall is expected to result in flash flooding in the Southern Appalachians.
The National Hurricane Center warned of landslides in steep terrain especially in the Southern Appalachians.
At least three weather-related deaths have been confirmed due to Hurricane Helene. In Florida, one person in the Tampa area was killed when a traffic sign fell on their vehicle. In Georgia, two people were killed in Wheeler County,.
Early estimates indicate damage to homes, businesses and infrastructure in Florida’s Big Bend region and parts of Georgia. Airports were closed and more than 1,300 flights were canceled.
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Hurricane Helene is expected to continue moving northward, then make a turn to the northwest over the Tennessee Valley. Despite weakening, the storm’s fast forward motion will still produce damaging winds and heavy rainfall.
The Southeastern US particularly Georgia, the Carolinas and parts of the Southern Appalachians, remains under tropical storm warnings. Flooding, landslides and wind damage are expected in these areas.
Parts of western North Carolina had already received double-digit rainfall with forecasters predicting an additional half-foot of rain in some regions.
River flooding is also expected with some rivers predicted to break records by several feet due to the storm’s deluge.
Hurricane Helene intensified due to record-high ocean temperatures in the Gulf of Mexico. These temperatures reached up to 89°F in some areas acted as jet fuel for the hurricane.
The year 2024 has seen extreme weather events worldwide with the Gulf of Mexico’s ocean heat content being the highest on record.
Airlines canceled nearly 1,300 flights on Thursday due to the approaching hurricane. By Friday morning, over 600 more flights had been canceled across the US.
Several airports across the Southeastern US were shut down with operations halted due to hazardous weather conditions.
Both President Joe Biden and Governor DeSantis declared states of emergency before the storm’s landfall. Disaster declarations were issued for Florida, Georgia, Alabama, North Carolina and South Carolina.
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