Hurricane Helene strengthened into a Category 4 storm before making landfall on the northwestern coast of Florida on the night of September 26. Forecasters warned the massive storm could bring “nightmare” flooding and bring dangerous winds and rain across the southeastern United States.
Hurricane Helene has prompted hurricane warnings and flash flood warnings as far away as Georgia and North Carolina. According to the tracking website poweroutage.us, high winds have knocked out power to more than 600,000 homes and businesses in Florida. The governors of Florida, Georgia, Alabama, the Carolinas and Virginia have all declared states of emergency.
The storm is about 90 miles south of Tallahassee, Florida, and has sustained winds of 145 mph, according to the latest hurricane bulletin from the US National Hurricane Center.
Hurricane Helene is picking up speed as it moves north-northeast across the Gulf of Mexico at 24 mph and is expected to bring life-threatening storm surges of up to 20 feet in Florida's Big Bend area.
Hurricane Helene made landfall less than a year after Hurricane Idalia struck Florida's Big Bend, causing widespread damage. Idalia strengthened into a Category 4 storm in the Gulf of Mexico but made landfall as a Category 3 storm with maximum sustained winds of nearly 125 mph.
Outside Florida, up to 25mm of rain fell in the mountains of North Carolina, with up to 36mm forecast. Forecasters warn that flooding from Helene could be worse than any recorded in the past century.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said hurricane models showed Helene would make landfall farther east than previously predicted, reducing the likelihood of a direct hit on the capital city of Tallahassee, a metropolitan area of about 395,000 people. The change in course would put Helene squarely on the sparsely populated Big Bend region.
“Please write your name, date of birth and vital information on your arm or leg with a permanent marker so you can be identified and notify your family,” the Taylor County Sheriff’s Office warned those who did not evacuate during Hurricane Helene on its Facebook page.
Helene is the eighth storm of the Atlantic hurricane season that began on June 1. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) seasonal hurricane forecast predicts that this year's Atlantic hurricane season will be more intense than average due to record-breaking ocean temperatures.
In the latest development of this year’s hurricane season, Hurricane Isaac formed on September 25 in the Atlantic Ocean and is expected to strengthen as it moves east. Isaac is expected to become a hurricane later this week. Forecasters note that the storm’s high winds and waves could affect parts of Bermuda and the Azores.
In the Pacific, Hurricane John reorganized and strengthened into a tropical storm on September 25, then continued to strengthen into a hurricane on September 26. The resurgent storm threatens to cause flash floods and landslides in areas of Mexico's west coast.
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador raised the death toll from Hurricane John to five as communities along Mexico's Pacific coast braced for the storm's second landfall.
