Hurricane Helene strengthened into a Category 4 storm before making landfall on Florida's northwest coast Thursday night, with forecasters warning the massive system could trigger a “nightmare” storm surge and bring dangerous winds and rain to much of the southeastern United States.
Helen issued hurricane and flash flood warnings far beyond the coast, into northern Georgia and western North Carolina. Strong winds have knocked out power to more than 600,000 homes and businesses in Florida, according to tracking website poweroutage.us. The governors of Florida, Georgia, Alabama, the Carolinas and Virginia have all declared states of emergency.
According to the National Hurricane Center, the hurricane's eye was located about 90 miles (145 kilometers) south of Tallahassee, Florida, with sustained winds of 140 mph (225 kph). It was moving north-northeast at 24 mph (39 km/h) and life-threatening storm surges of up to 20 feet (6 meters) were expected in the Big Bend, Florida area.
The National Weather Service in Tallahassee issued an “Extreme Wind Warning” toward Big Bend as the eyewall approached: “Consider this warning a tornado warning,” it said in a post on X .
It was only a year ago that Helen came to Big Bend, Florida and caused massive damage. Idalia became Category 4 winds in the Gulf of Mexico, but made landfall near Keaton Beach as Category 3 winds with maximum sustained winds of nearly 125 mph (205 km/h).
The storm's raging effects were widespread, with tropical storm-level winds and hurricane-level gusts continuing to occur on the west coast of Florida. Flooding covered a road on Siesta Key near Sarasota and covered some intersections in St. Pete Beach. Timber and other debris from the Cedar Key fire a week ago fell ashore in rising waters.
In addition to Florida, up to 10 inches (25 centimeters) of rain fell in the mountains of North Carolina, with an additional 14 inches (36 centimeters) possible before the flooding ends, setting the stage for flooding that forecasters warn could be worse than Nothing is more serious than anything seen in the last century.
Heavy rain and winds picked up in Valdosta, Georgia, near the Florida state line. The weather service said more than a dozen Georgia counties could see hurricane-force winds exceeding 110 miles per hour.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said models showed Helen would make landfall farther away than previously predicted, reducing the likelihood of a direct hit in the capital, Tallahassee, a metropolitan area with a population of about 395,000 people.
The shift put the storm directly aimed at the sparsely populated Big Bend area, home to fishing villages and resorts where the Florida Panhandle and peninsula meet.
The Taylor County Sheriff's Office posted on Facebook to warn those who choose not to evacuate, “Please use a permanent marker to write your name, birthday and important message on your arm or leg so you can be identified and your family can be notified. ” These dire suggestions are similar to those made by other officials during past hurricanes.
Still, Philip Tooke, a commercial fisherman who took over the business his father started near Apalachee Bay in the area, plans to fish on his boat, as he did during Michael and other hurricanes. Weather this storm. “If I lose it, I have nothing,” Took said. In 2018, Category 5 Storm Michael hit the Florida Panhandle, nearly destroying a town, damaging thousands of homes and businesses, and causing an estimated $25 billion in damage.
Still, many are focused on mandatory evacuation orders stretching from south of the Panhandle to low-lying areas along the Gulf Coast around Tallahassee, Gainesville, Cedar Key, Lake City, Tampa and Sarasota.
That's Sharonda Davis, one of several people who gathered at a Tallahassee shelter worried that their mobile homes wouldn't be able to withstand the high winds. The scale of the hurricane, she said, “is scarier than anything because this is what we're going to have to deal with.”
The weather service predicted storm surges of up to 20 feet (6 meters) and warned that the storm surge in Apalachee Bay could be particularly “catastrophic and unsurvivable” and that federal authorities were sending search and rescue teams.
“Please, please, please take any evacuation orders seriously!” the office said, describing the surge as “a nightmare.”
This area of Florida known as the “Forgotten Coast” has been largely untouched by the widespread condominium development and commercialization that dominates many of Florida's beach communities. The area is loved for its natural wonders – vast expanses of salt marshes, tide pools and barrier islands.
“You live here and you face The risk of losing everything to a severe storm.
School districts and several colleges canceled classes. Airports in Tampa, Tallahassee and Clearwater were closed Thursday, and flight cancellations were common across Florida and elsewhere.
While Helena is likely to weaken as it moves inland, damaging winds and heavy rain are expected to extend into the southern Appalachians, where landslides are possible, forecasters said. The hurricane center warned that much of the region could experience prolonged power outages and flooding. Tennessee is one of the states expected to get wet.
Helen inundated parts of Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula on Wednesday, flooding streets and toppling trees as it passed offshore and passed over the resort city of Cancun. In western Cuba, Helen knocked out power to more than 200,000 homes and businesses as it passed over the islands.
Hurricanes are expected up to 100 miles (160 kilometers) north of the Georgia-Florida line. The state opened its parks to evacuees and their pets, including horses. Many cities and counties in southern Georgia have implemented curfews.
“This is one of the biggest storms we've ever experienced,” Georgia Governor Brian Kemp said.
Marshall Shepherd, a professor of meteorology at the University of Georgia, said that for Atlanta, Helen could be the worst strike to hit a major inner-Southern city in 35 years.
Helen is the eighth named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, which begins June 1.
In further storm activity, Tropical Storm Isaac formed in the Atlantic on Wednesday and was expected to strengthen as it moved east across the open ocean, possibly becoming a hurricane by the end of the week, forecasters said. Officials said waves and strong winds could affect much of Bermuda and eventually the Azores over the weekend.
In the Pacific, former Hurricane John transformed into a tropical storm on Wednesday and strengthened into a hurricane on Thursday, threatening flash floods and mudslides along Mexico's west coast. Mexican President Andres Manuel López Obrador raised John's death toll to five as the country's Pacific coast communities braced for the storm's second landfall.
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Hollingsworth reported from Kansas City, Missouri. Associated Press writers Seth Borenstein in New York; Jeff Amy in Atlanta; Russ Bynum in Valdosta, Georgia; Danica Coto in San Juan, Puerto Rico; Andrea Rodriguez in Mark Stevenson and Maria Verza in Havana; Mark Stevenson and Maria Verza in Mexico City; and Claire Rush in Portland, Ore., contributed to this report.
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