CRAWFORDVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Hurricane Helene strengthened right into a Category 4 storm hours before its expected landfall on Florida's northwest coast Thursday evening, as forecasters warned that the massive system would unleash a “nightmarish” storm surge and produce damaging winds and rain across much of the country could bring southeastern USA
Helene, which strengthened right into a Category 3 storm early Thursday, triggered hurricane and flash flood warnings that prolonged well beyond the coast into northern Georgia and western North Carolina. Strong winds in Florida have already knocked out power to over 320,000 homes and businesses, in accordance with tracking site poweroutage.us. The governors of Florida, Georgia, Alabama, the Carolinas and Virginia all declared states of emergency of their states.
According to the US National Hurricane Center, the hurricane was situated about 110 miles (175 kilometers) west of Tampa and had sustained winds of 130 miles per hour (215 km/h). It accelerated through the Gulf of Mexico, moving north-northeast at a speed of 23 miles per hour (37 km/h). Life-threatening storm surges of as much as 20 feet (6 meters) were expected within the Big Bend area of Florida.
Hurricane and flash flood warnings prolonged well beyond the coast into northern Georgia and western North Carolina, with heavy rain and robust winds reported across much of Florida and Georgia Thursday evening.
Helene has only been a yr since Hurricane Idalia hit the Big Bend in Florida and caused extensive damage. Idalia became a Category 4 within the Gulf of Mexico, but made landfall near Keaton Beach as a Category 3 with maximum sustained winds of about 125 miles per hour (205 km/h).
The force of the storm was felt Thursday afternoon as water washed over a road on the northern tip of Siesta Key near Sarasota and covered some intersections in St. Pete Beach on Florida's Gulf Coast. Wood and other debris from a fireplace in Cedar Key per week ago fell ashore in rising waters.
Beyond Florida, as much as 10 inches (25 centimeters) of rain had fallen within the mountains of North Carolina, with as much as 14 inches (36 centimeters) more possible before the deluge ends, setting the stage for flooding that forecasters warned may very well be worse than the rest seen within the last century.
Heavy rains began and winds increased in Valdosta, Georgia, near the state line with Florida. The National Weather Service said greater than a dozen Georgia counties could experience hurricane-force winds of over 110 miles per hour.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said models suggest Helene will make landfall further east than previously forecast, reducing the prospect of a direct hit on the capital, Tallahassee, whose metropolitan area has about 395,000 residents.
The shift puts the storm directly on the sparsely populated Big Bend area, home to fishing villages and resort towns where Florida's panhandle and peninsula meet.
“Please write your name, birthday 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 predominantly rural Taylor County warned those refusing to evacuate had decided, in a Facebook post, the dire advice just like what other officials have given during previous hurricanes.
Still, Philip Tooke, a business fisherman who took over the business his father founded near the region's Apalachee Bay, planned to ride out this storm like he did with Hurricane Michael and the others – on his boat. “If I lose this, I have nothing,” Tooke said. Michael, a Category 5 storm, almost completely destroyed a city, destroyed hundreds of homes and businesses and caused around $25 billion in damage when it hit the Florida Panhandle in 2018.
But many followed mandatory evacuation orders that stretched from the Panhandle south along the Gulf Coast to low-lying areas around Tallahassee, Gainesville, Cedar Key, Lake City, Tampa and Sarasota.
Among them was Sharonda Davis, one in every of several who had gathered at a Tallahassee shelter fearing their mobile homes wouldn’t give you the chance to resist the wind. She said the dimensions of the hurricane was “more frightening than anything else because it's the consequences that we're facing.”
Federal authorities sent search and rescue teams because the National Weather Service office in Tallahassee predicted storm surges of as much as 20 feet (6 meters) and warned that they may very well be particularly “catastrophic and unsurvivable” in Apalachee Bay.
“Please, please, please take all evacuation orders seriously!” The office said the surge scenario was “a nightmare.”
Known because the “Forgotten Coast,” this stretch of Florida has been largely spared from the widespread condominium development and commercialization that dominates so many Florida beach communities. The region is understood for its natural wonders – extensive salt marshes, tide pools and barrier islands.
“If you live down here, you're at risk of losing everything in a bad storm,” said 20-year-old Anthony Godwin, who lives a couple of half-mile from the water within the coastal town of Panacea, as he stopped to refuel before heading west toward the home drove to his sister in Pensacola.
School districts and several other universities have canceled classes. Airports in Tampa, Tallahassee and Clearwater were closed Thursday, while there have been widespread cancellations elsewhere in Florida and beyond.
While Helene is more likely to weaken because it moves inland, damaging winds and heavy rains are expected to spread into the southern Appalachians, where landslides are possible, forecasters said. The hurricane center warned that there may very well be prolonged power outages and flooding across much of the region. Tennessee was among the many states where flooding was expected.
Helene flooded parts of Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula on Wednesday, inundating roads and toppling trees because it passed the coast and hit the resort town of Cancun. In western Cuba, Helene knocked out power to greater than 200,000 households and businesses as she flew past the island.
Hurricane conditions are expected in areas 100 miles (160 kilometers) north of the Georgia-Florida line. Most Georgia public school districts and several other universities have canceled classes. The state opened its parks to evacuees and their pets, including horses. Nighttime curfews have been imposed in lots of cities and counties in south Georgia, including Albany, Valdosta and Thomasville.
“This is one of the biggest storms we’ve ever had,” Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp said.
Helene is the eighth named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, which began June 1. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has predicted an above-average Atlantic hurricane season this yr because of record-warm ocean temperatures.
Further storm activity saw Tropical Storm Isaac form within the Atlantic on Wednesday and was expected to strengthen because it moved eastward over the open ocean and will potentially develop into a hurricane by the top of the week, forecasters said. Officials said the waves and winds could affect parts of Bermuda and eventually the Azores through the weekend.
In the Pacific, former Hurricane John strengthened right into a tropical storm on Wednesday and re-intensified right into a hurricane on Thursday because it threatened areas on Mexico's west coast with flash floods and mudslides. Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador raised John's death toll to 5 as communities along the country's Pacific coast prepared for the storm to make landfall a second time.
Hollingsworth reported from Kansas City, Missouri. Associated Press journalists Seth Borenstein in New York; Jeff Amy in Atlanta; Russ Bynum in Savannah, Georgia; Danica Coto in San Juan, Puerto Rico; Andrea Rodríguez in Havana; Mark Stevenson and María Verza in Mexico City; and Claire Rush in Portland, Oregon, contributed to this report.
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