Helene became a hurricane on Wednesday morning as it moved through the Yucatan Channel towards, according to the projections of the National Hurricane Center, the coast of Florida, where it could make landfall as a major hurricane on Thursday afternoon.
Thousands of Florida residents face mandatory evacuations as Hurricane Helene speeds toward Florida’s Gulf Coast, CNN reported. The storm, which threatens to become a Category 3 hurricane before making landfall, could bring powerful winds, significant flooding and dangerous storm surge to a region already battered by recent hurricanes.
Evacuations ordered by local authorities affect at least nine counties, including Citrus, Hillsborough, Charlotte, Golfo, Manatee and Pinellas. Additionally, the storm is expected to make landfall in the Big Bend area late Thursday, with maximum sustained winds of 96 km/h (59.7 mph), according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC). English). “This system will be unlike anything we have experienced to date,” the Taylor County Sheriff’s Office warned. Mandatory evacuations have also been issued in Franklin and Wakulla counties.
Helene’s rapid strengthening is due to the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico, and the storm was expected to upgrade from a tropical storm to a hurricane within 48 hours, but the NHC confirmed this Wednesday. This poses a particular threat to the Big Bend area, which could face a storm surge of up to 4.5 meters (14.8 feet). “We’ve been through a lot of these in all the years we’ve been here,” Howard Rabe told CNN affiliate WFTS.
The emergency situation led Florida Governor Ron DeSantis to expand the emergency declaration from 41 to 61 counties, thus streamlining preparation and coordination between state and local governments. At the same time, 3,000 members of the Florida National Guard have been activated and the use of Starlinks has been activated to ensure internet connectivity in the event of outages.
Georgia Governor Brian Kemp also declared a state of emergency in anticipation of the storm’s effects on his state. “As we observe the path of Helene and its possible impact, we declared a state of emergency so that emergency management teams can prepare and direct resources well in advance of the storm’s arrival,” Kemp said in X.
Florida citizens are also actively activating. On the Gulf Coast, several families are still dealing with the effects of Hurricane Debby and now face a new threat. “We are overwhelmed. Too much for us. We are 84 years old,” Ron Booher told CNN affiliate WFTV. Lynn Marshall, another resident, shared her concern with WJHG: “During Hurricane Michael my house was destroyed. All four businesses were destroyed. “I worked for the Port Inn and it was destroyed.”
In response to the looming threat, several school districts, including those in Hillsborough, Pinellas and Sarasota, have announced precautionary closures. In addition, the state’s universities will also follow this measure to ensure the protection of their students and staff.
Meanwhile, Florida’s insurance industry is in a critical situation. The repeated storms have led many insurers to withdraw from the state, unable to take on the increasing risks associated with severe weather events. Pinellas County Emergency Management Director Cathie Perkins warned: “This storm is much larger than Idalia and Eta, and for Idalia, parts of our county had more than 1.2 meters of storm surge and we had more than 1,500 houses flooded.”
Georgia is also bracing for possible hits from Helene, expecting strong winds and torrential rain that could cause widespread damage from midweek. Rainfall of up to 11.8 inches (30 cm) is expected in some areas of the Florida Panhandle and much further north into parts of Virginia.
The National Hurricane Center predicts “changes in the storm’s track, which could alter where its worst effects will occur.”
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