Hurricane Helene: An ‘Unsurvivable Scenario’
Category 4 Hurricane Helene hit Florida last night as one of the largest storms to make landfall on the Gulf Coast. “A really unsurvivable scenario is going to play out,” said Michael Brennan, director of the National Hurricane Center.
At least three people have died so far:
- One person in Florida was killed when a road sign flew into a car.
- Two others died in Georgia after a possible tornado struck their home as the storm approached.
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.
— Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis
Emergencies: Florida, Georgia, Alabama and the Carolinas declared states of emergency as the hurricane approached.
*The current forecast for Hurricane Helene suggests this storm will impact every part of our state.
— Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp
In Florida, mandatory evacuations were ordered from the southern panhandle to low-lying towns such as Tallahassee, Gainesville, Cedar Key, Lake City, Tampa and Sarasota.
In a Facebook post, the sheriff’s office in Taylor County told residents who chose not to follow evacuation orders to write their names and dates of birth in permanent marker on their arms or legs, “so that you can be identified and family notified.”
Prelude: Some cities were already submerged in water on Thursday before Helene made landfall.
Over 1 million homes and businesses in Florida and 50,000 in Georgia were also already without power.
Struck: Helene hit Florida’s Big Bend region around 11:10 p.m. Eastern Time. Winds were up to 140 mph and some regions were expecting storm surges of 15 to 20 feet of seawater.
Helene is the 14th strongest recorded hurricane to hit the U.S. and the 7th most powerful to hit Florida.
The full effects of Hurricane Helene remain to be seen, but many are already calling it “catastrophic” and “a nightmare.”
To understand why such devastating storms are hitting, read our free book Why ‘Natural’ Disasters?
