Por Stephen Smith, Kate Payne y Heather Hollingsworth – The Associated Press
Hurricane Helene weakened to a tropical storm this Friday as it crossed Georgia after making landfall late Thursday near Perry, in the Florida Panhandle. At least five people have died, millions are without power and local authorities are rescuing dozens of people trapped by flooding and storm surge, which have caused catastrophic damage in the wake of the cyclone.
Helene made landfall amid warnings from the National Hurricane Center (HNC) that the massive system could create a “nightmare” storm surge.
Videos spread on social media showed heavy rain falling in Perry, and siding being torn off buildings. A local news channel showed an overturned house. The community and much of surrounding Taylor County were left without power.
In Citrus County, about 120 miles south of Perry, rescuers went out in boats early Friday to rescue people trapped by floodwaters.
“If you are trapped and need help, please call emergency services and do not try to wade through flood waters yourself,” the sheriff’s office warned in a Facebook post. The water may contain cables, sewage, sharp objects and other debris, they said.
Flood at Teinhatchee Rivergate by Helene on September 27.Sean Rayford / Getty Images
With maximum sustained winds of 70 miles per hour, Helene continued to weaken as it moved into Georgia. The storm was about 40 miles east of Macon and about 100 miles southeast of Atlanta, moving north at 30 miles per hour at 5 a.m., the hurricane center in Miami reported.
“We expect it to weaken further. “It’s going to turn north and northwest and eventually move into Tennessee and Kentucky and mix with a funnel system up there,” said Jack Beven, a senior hurricane specialist at the NHC.
The storm should continue to weaken Friday afternoon, with winds dropping below 40 miles per hour, but will continue to produce widespread heavy rain in the Appalachian Mountains, with the possibility of mudslides and flash flooding, Beven added.
The HNC said Helene came ashore around 11:10 p.m. Thursday near the mouth of the Aucilla River in the Big Bend area of Florida’s Gulf Coast. It had estimated maximum sustained winds of 140 miles per hour. That location was only about 20 miles northwest of where Hurricane Idalia made landfall last year with almost the same ferocity and caused widespread damage.
The eye of the hurricane passed near Valdosta, Georgia, as the storm churned rapidly toward northern Georgia Thursday night. The HNC issued an extreme wind advisory for the area, meaning possible hurricane force winds of more than 115 miles per hour.
At a hotel in that city of 55,000 people, near the Florida border, dozens of people crowded into the darkened lobby after midnight Friday, while the wind whistled and howled outside. There was no electricity and emergency lights in the lobby, flashlights and cell phones were the only illumination. Water dripped from the lamps in the hall dining room and debris from the roof fell to the floor.
Storm surge in Cedar Key, Florida, on September 26.Miguel J. Rodriguez Carrillo / AFP – Getty Images
Fermín Herrera, 20, his wife and two-month-old daughter left their room on the top floor of the hotel, where they took refuge because they were worried that trees would fall on their Valdosta home.
“We heard a loud noise,” Herrera said, cradling the sleeping baby in a hallway on the ground floor. “At first we didn’t see anything. After a while, the intensity increased. So we made the decision to leave.”
In Thomas County, Georgia, where residents have been under a curfew, the sheriff’s office said it was extended until noon Friday.
“This curfew helps protect emergency responders and the citizens of our community as conditions remain very dangerous. Please take shelter in a safe place,” the office said online.
Helene is the third storm to hit the city in just over a year. Tropical Storm Debby left thousands without power in August, while Hurricane Idalia damaged about 1,000 homes in Valdosta and surrounding Lowndes County a year ago.
“I think many of us know what to do now,” Herrera said. “We have seen some storms and we have toughened up.”
Helene caused hurricane warnings and flash flooding that extended beyond the coast into northern Georgia and western North Carolina. More than 1.2 million homes and businesses were without power in Florida, more than 900,000 in Georgia and more than 927,000 in the Carolinas, according to the website poweroutage.us. The governors of those states and of Alabama and Virginia declared a state of emergency.
One person was killed in Florida when a sign fell on their car, and two people were reported dead in a possible tornado in southern Georgia as the storm approached. Another person was killed in Charlotte, North Carolina, when a tree fell on a home as the storm blew through the area early Friday.
Satellite photo of Hurricane Helene.Associated Press
“When Floridians wake up tomorrow morning, we are going to most likely have additional loss of life and there will certainly be loss of property,” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said at a news conference Thursday night.
Even before landfall, the storm’s wrath was widely felt, with sustained tropical storm-force winds and hurricane-force gusts along Florida’s west coast. Water covered a road on Siesta Key, near Sarasota, and some intersections on St. Pete Beach. Lumber and other debris from a fire in Cedar Key a week ago was swept away by rising waters.
Beyond Florida, up to 10 inches of rain had fallen in the North Carolina mountains, with the chance of up to 14 inches before the deluge ends, matching the scenario that experts warned could be worse than any. something seen in the last century.
Heavy rain began to fall and winds intensified early Thursday in Valdosta, Georgia, near the Florida state line. Hurricane-force winds of more than 110 mph could be reported in more than a dozen Georgia counties, according to the weather service.
The storm made landfall in the sparsely populated area of Big Bend, home to fishing towns and vacation hideaways where the Panhandle and the Florida Peninsula meet.
“Please write your name, date of birth and important information on your arm or leg with a permanent marker so you can be identified and your family notified,” the sheriff’s office in Taylor County warned in a Facebook post. mostly rural, to those who chose not to evacuate. The dire advice was similar to what other officials have called for during previous hurricanes.
School districts and several universities canceled classes. Airports in Tampa, Tallahassee and Clearwater closed Thursday, while cancellations were widespread in other parts of Florida and beyond.
Although Helene is likely to weaken as it moves inland, damaging winds and heavy rain were expected to extend as far south as the Appalachian Mountains, where landslides were possible, forecasters said. Tennessee was among the states expected to be affected by the rains.
Helene had hit parts of Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula on Wednesday, flooding streets and toppling trees as it passed close to the coast and brushed against the resort city of Cancun. In western Cuba, Helene left more than 200,000 homes and businesses without power as it passed through the island.
Hurricane conditions were forecast 100 miles north of the Georgia-Florida border. The state opened its parks to evacuees and their pets, including horses. Nighttime curfews were imposed in many cities and counties in southern Georgia.
“This is one of the biggest storms we’ve ever had,” said Georgia Governor Brian Kemp.
Many people seek shelter from the arrival of Hurricane Helene at Lincoln High School in Tallahassee, Florida, on September 26, 2024.
Reuters
For Atlanta, Helene could be the worst hit to a major inner-South city in 35 years, said University of Georgia meteorology professor Marshall Shepherd.
Helene is the eighth named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, which began June 1. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has forecast an above-average Atlantic hurricane season this year due to record-breaking ocean temperatures.
