Hurricane Helene reached the coast on 26th September, Thursday night in Florida. The effect of the storm is felt everywhere in South Florida. The National Hurricane Center reported that the Category 4 hurricane had strong winds that extended up to 60 miles from the center, and the less intense tropical wind was felt up to 310 miles.
Weather meteorologist KC Sherman said, “It is important to remember that while the center is projected to make landfall along the Big Bend, significant impacts will be felt up and down the west coast of Florida extending well outside of the center.”
Lesser rainfall was expected as Helene was a fast-moving storm. However, three to six inches of rainfall were expected, along with sudden flooding in beach areas. According to the forecast, the possibility of a tornado was also expected.
The hurricane center says, “Weakening is expected after landfall, but Helene’s fast forward speed will allow strong, damaging winds, especially in gusts, to penetrate well inland across the southeastern United States, including over the higher terrain of the southern Appalachians.”
According to Power Outage, US, as of early Friday morning, more than 1.3 million customers were without power, and approximately 172,000 in Georgia were also affected by the same. As of now, three deaths have been recorded due to the hurricane. In the late-night news conference, the government of Florida, Ron DeSantis, addressed that one person was killed due to falling off a traffic sign on a vehicle in the Tampa region.
The hurricane center’s director, Michael Brennan, described the storm as “a really un-survivable scenario.” That can destroy houses and move cars, and the water level is going to rise very quickly and could cut off escape routes, said the director.
The government alerted the people to move to higher grounds as soon as possible to avoid sudden flooding and delay in action will only lead to dangerous situations that are difficult to handle. Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Deanne Criswell said that most deaths, which was around 150 people, were killed due to drowning in Hurricane Ian in 2022.
Post landfall, the hurricane center expects Helene to slow down after making landfall, and the storm force will move northwest direction over the southeastern U.S. on Friday and Saturday. The weather is expected to be back to normal by the weekend or the next week.
