Fast-moving Hurricane Helene is advancing Thursday across the Gulf of Mexico towards Florida.
Along with devastating winds, rain, and flash floods hundreds of miles inland throughout much of the Southeast United States, Helene is threatening an “unsurvivable” storm surge in the state’s northwest.
There is not much time left for people in its path to be ready for what might be the strongest hurricane in more than a year.
About Hurricane Helene
Hurricane Helene is expected to be a major hurricane — meaning a Category four — when it makes landfall on Florida’s northwestern coast.
By Thursday afternoon, the storm is predicted to have winds of at least 130 metres per hour, but the hurricane centre warned that “additional strengthening is possible” in the hours leading up to impact.
The centre of the hurricane – where the most dangerous winds are – is expected to make landfall around Apalachicola on Thursday evening.
This GOES-16 GeoColor satellite image taken at 5:51 p.m. EDT and provided by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) shows Hurricane Helene in the Gulf of Mexico, Wednesday, September 25 2024. AP
The National Weather Service in Tallahassee forecast storm surges of up to six metres and warned they could be particularly “catastrophic and life-threatening” in Florida’s Apalachee Bay.
It added that high winds and heavy rains also posed risks.
“This forecast, if realised, is a nightmare surge scenario for Apalachee Bay. Please, please, please take any evacuation orders seriously!” the office said.
Early Thursday, Helene was about 680 kilometres southwest of Tampa and moving north at nine 15 kilometres per hour with top sustained winds of 137 kilometres per hour. Forecasters said it should become a higher hurricane, meaning winds would top 177 kilometres per hour.
A man lights charcoal to cook dinner in his flooded home after the passage of Hurricane Helene in Guanimar, Artemisa province, Cuba, Wednesday, September 25, 2024. AP
Its fury
The storm formed Tuesday in the Caribbean Sea and intensified into a hurricane on Wednesday, swamping parts of Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, flooding streets and toppling trees as it passed offshore and brushed the resort city of Cancun.
In several areas of the Mexican state of Quintana Roo, torrential rains submerged cars, while strong waves battered the shore.
More than 50,000 residents in the province of Pinar del Rio in western Cuba lost electricity as a result of Hurricane Helene’s powerful winds.
Helene was expected to dump up to 15 inches (38.1 centimetres) of rain in some isolated spots after making landfall in Florida, causing considerable flash and urban flooding, the hurricane centre said.
Air traffic is already being disrupted by the hurricane, and this will only get worse as it gets stronger. FlightAware reports that about 800 flights have been cancelled for Thursday. The majority were leaving Tampa International Airport, which made the announcement on Thursday that it would be stopping all commercial and cargo operations. There is also a significant impact on flights from Fort Myers, Clearwater, Sarasota, and Tallahassee.
While Helene will likely weaken as it moves inland, its “fast forward speed will allow strong, damaging winds, especially in gusts, to penetrate well inland across the southeastern United States,” including in the southern Appalachian Mountains, the National Hurricane Centre said.
One of the largest storms
Helene is forecast to be one of the largest storms in breadth in years to hit the Gulf of Mexico, said Colorado State University hurricane researcher Phil Klotzbach, as per The Associated Press.
He said since 1988, only three Gulf hurricanes were bigger than Helene’s predicted size: 2017’s Irma, 2005’s Wilma and 1995’s Opal.
Areas 160 kilometres north of the Georgia-Florida line can expect hurricane conditions. More than half of Georgia’s public school districts and several universities cancelled classes.
People traverse a flooded street on a boat after the passage of Hurricane Helene in Guanimar, Artemisa province, Cuba, Wednesday, September 25, 2024. AP
According to CNN, the hurricane’s wind field could be big enough to stretch from Washington, DC, to Indianapolis.
For Atlanta, Helene could be the worst strike on a major Southern inland city in 35 years, said University of Georgia meteorology professor Marshall Shepherd.
Landslides were possible in southern Appalachia, and rainfall was expected as far away as Tennessee, Kentucky and Indiana.
Federal authorities have positioned generators, food and water, along with search-and-rescue and power restoration teams.
Preparing for the storm
As of early Thursday, hurricane warnings and flash flood warnings extended far beyond the coast up into south-central Georgia.
The governors of Florida, Georgia, Virginia and the Carolinas have all declared emergencies in their states. More than 40 million people in Florida, Georgia, and Alabama were under hurricane and tropical storm warnings, according to the National Weather Service.
A life-threatening storm surge, devastating winds, and flooding downpour have already forced thousands of Floridians to leave, and almost the whole state is under notice due to the storm’s potential.
Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida urged people to follow their emergency plans and stockpile supplies, but cautioned that because of the storm’s size and pace, they “should not evacuate hundreds of miles” away. He said that in counties where a state of emergency has been issued, the Florida Division of Emergency Management has teamed up with Uber to offer free transportation to shelters for Floridians. The governor remarked, “Remember, you run from the water, but you hide from the wind.”
Rain was already falling steadily in Atlanta on Wednesday evening as shoppers emptied shelves of water at a Kroger supermarket east of downtown. The National Weather Service in Atlanta issued flash flood warnings for much of the state.
In Crawfordville, farther inland and about 40 kilometres northwest of Apalachee Bay, Christine Nazworth stocked up on bottled water, baked goods and premade meals at a Walmart.
Wakulla County was one of several to issue evacuation orders. Along Florida’s Gulf Coast, school districts and multiple universities have cancelled classes.
In Cuba, the government preventively shut off power in some communities as waves as high as 16 feet (five metres) slammed Cortes Bay. And in the Cayman Islands, schools closed and residents pumped water from flooded homes.
Charles McComb said he still found it hard to believe Helene would seriously impact the city, which is more than 400 kilometres north of the Gulf of Mexico.
“It would be really unique for it to hit so far inland,” Charles said as he bought water, bread and lunch meat. He was, however, worried about losing electricity. “I do live in an area where it doesn’t take so much for the power to go out,” he said.
In Hernando County, located along the state’s west-central coast, the county commissioner told residents under evacuation orders to “get out now.” The county could see up to 12 feet of flooding from storm surge in “the most significant forecast that we’ve come up against,” said Commissioner Brian Hawkins.
Another storm in preparing
In further storm activity, Tropical Storm Isaac formed Wednesday in the Atlantic.
The storm was expected to strengthen as it moves eastward across the open ocean, possibly becoming a hurricane by the end of the week, forecasters said.
Isaac was about 1,115 kilometres northeast of Bermuda with top sustained winds of 85 kilometres per hour, according to the US National Hurricane Centre in Miami, which said its swells and winds could affect parts of Bermuda and eventually the Azores by the weekend.
In the Pacific, former Hurricane John reformed Wednesday as a tropical storm and was strengthening as it threatened areas of Mexico’s western coast. Officials posted hurricane warnings for southwestern Mexico.
John hit the country’s southern Pacific coast late Monday, killing at least two people, triggering mudslides, and damaging homes and trees.
It grew into a Category three hurricane in a matter of hours and made landfall east of Acapulco. It re-emerged over the ocean after weakening inland.
Storms that strengthen quickly, like Hurricane Helene, are happening more frequently as a result of pollution from fossil fuels.
With inputs from agencies
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Publish date : 2024-09-25 21:39:00
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