Hurricane Helene hit Florida’s Big Bend region on the Gulf Coast on Thursday night, making landfall just east of the Aucilla River and killing three people. US National Hurricane Center (NHC) officials warned of potentially “catastrophic and unsurvivable” storm surges of up to 20 feet (six metres) in Florida’s Apalachee Bay.
Tragically, one person was killed in Tampa after a falling road sign crushed a driver, and two people lost their lives in Georgia when winds reportedly struck a mobile home. The storm began forming earlier this week in the Caribbean and escalated into a Category 4 storm over the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico.
It has caused power outages for more than a million homes and businesses in Florida alone and 50,000 in Georgia, reports the Mirror US. The NHC said Hurricane Helene is unusually large and is expected to impact areas beyond Florida.
Heavy rains started near the Florida-Georgia state line just after 7pm EST, with over a dozen Georgia counties predicted to experience winds up to 110 mph, according to the National Weather Service.
Emergency states have been declared across Florida, Georgia, South and North Carolina, as well as Alabama, in the face of an advancing storm. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has urged residents to evacuate swiftly, warning of the “unsurvivable” nature of the storm due to extreme storm surge.
“You’re going to have hurricane force winds for probably 50 miles outside the eye of the storm, and then you’re going to continue to see surge, particularly in that Big Bend area,” DeSantis stated. He cautioned locals about potential power outages and the closure of intercoastal bridges.
The southeast coast of the US, stretching up to Tennessee, is braced for severe weather that could lead to downed power lines and perilous flooding. Currently, the storm is located about 45 miles east-southeast of Tallahassee, moving north-northeast at roughly 45 mph according to the NHC’s 11.20pm EST update.
A Tampa driver was killed by a falling sign which crushed their car on Interstate 4, with state patrol reporting the incident occurred in the westbound lanes at mile marker 1. Florida Highway Patrol has yet to confirm the number of fatalities caused by a fallen sign, referring to the incident only as a “deadly crash.”
The agency has not disclosed if there were any other injuries. Traffic cameras captured the sign on top of a vehicle on the I-4.
As a storm approached, officials urged locals to avoid the roads. Governor DeSantis addressed the driver’s death in a late-night press conference on Thursday.
“It just shows you that it’s very dangerous conditions out there. You need to be, right now, just hunkering down,” he stated. DeSantis warned of potential further fatalities as the storm progresses and confirmed 3,500 National Guardsmen are ready to assist.
“When Floridians wake up tomorrow morning, we’re going to be waking up to a state where, very likely, there’s been additional loss of life. And certainly, there’s going to be loss of property,” he said. “You’re going to have people that are going to lose their homes because of this storm. So please keep those folks in mind, keep them in your prayers.”
In south Georgia, two people died after a possible tornado hit a mobile home, according to Wheeler County Sheriff Randy Rigdon. The damage occurred as Hurricane Helene brought heavy thunderstorms across the state. Wheeler County is located approximately 70 miles southeast of Macon.
The NHC indicated water levels are about 6 feet above average at Clearwater Beach and Cedar Key. A deluge of hurricane warnings and flash flood alerts have been issued, not just for coastal areas but also reaching into northern Georgia and western North Carolina.
With 61 out of 67 Florida counties declared in a state of emergency, several regions continue to adhere to evacuation directives. “Helene continues to produce catastrophic winds that are pushing further inland over the Florida Big Bend and Florida Panhandle and will soon be entering southeastern Georgia,” revealed NHC in a statement issued at around 12am EST on Friday.
They also warned: “This is an extremely dangerous and life-threatening situation. Persons should not leave their shelters and remain in place through the passage of these life-threatening conditions.”
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