After wreaking massive havoc as a powerful hurricane through Florida and Georgia overnight, Tropical Storm Helene brought life-threatening flooding to the Carolinas on Friday. The storm swamped neighborhoods, left over 4 million homes and businesses without power, and killed at least 20 people.
Around 11:10 p.m. ET on Thursday, or 03:10 p.m. GMT on Friday, Hurricane Helene made landfall in Florida’s Big Bend region as a strong Category 4 hurricane. Her aftermath included flooded streets, overturned boats in harbors, downed trees, and submerged cars.
Police and firefighters performed thousands of water rescues throughout the impacted states, including Atlanta, where flooding forced the evacuation of an apartment building.
With wind speeds of 140 mph (225 kph), Helene made landfall in Florida early on Friday. However, as it moved into Georgia, it weakened to a tropical storm. The maximum sustained winds were close to 45 mph (97 kph) as of 11 a.m. We expected it to stall over the Tennessee Valley throughout the weekend.
The NHC reported that strong winds, life-threatening storm surges, and torrential rains persisted. On Friday morning, the National Weather Service issued flash flood warnings for a number of counties in Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina.
This particular situation is extremely dangerous. SEEK HIGHER GROUND IMMEDIATELY,” the representative exclaimed.
Just before midday, emergency personnel in Rutherford County, western North Carolina, issued a “Dam failure imminent” warning to residents near the Lake Lure Dam, instructing them to immediately evacuate to higher ground.
According to the county’s report on X, Interstates 40 and 26 in neighboring Buncombe County had to close due to landslides.
After dawn, the extent of the damage in Florida started to become apparent.
Mobile homes in the coastal Steinhatchee area were moved by a storm surge, or the wall of seawater driven ashore by winds, that measured eight to ten feet (2.4–3 meters), the NWS reported on X. Boats grounded in front yards in Treasure Island, a community of barrier islands in Pinellas County.
On X, the city of Tampa announced that emergency personnel had successfully rescued 78 residents from the water, and that flooding had rendered numerous roads inaccessible. The Pasco County Sheriff’s Office rescued over 65 individuals overnight.
The US Coast Guard has rescued nine people from storm waters. On Thursday, a Coast Guard crew disabled a man’s sailboat off Sanibel Island, and an online video showed them rescuing him and his dog from the water while they were wearing life jackets.
Director of Florida’s emergency management, Kevin Guthrie, advised locals in the impacted areas to avoid driving.
At a morning press briefing, Guthrie pleaded with reporters, “I beg you, do not go outside.” In the affected areas, we have 1,500 search and rescue workers. Please move aside so that we can complete our tasks.”
Referring to the storm surge as “unsurvivable,” officials had begged people living in Helene’s path to follow evacuation orders, as NHC director Michael Brennan issued a warning.
The Taylor County Sheriff’s Department advised people who chose not to evacuate to permanently inscribe their names and birthdates on their arms “so that you can be identified and family notified” on social media.
A few locals had obstinately remained in their positions.
Operating a state ferry boat in Pinellas County, Ken Wood, 58, said he should have followed evacuation orders instead of staying home with his 16-year-old cat, Andy, to weather the storm.
Wood vowed, “I promise, I won’t do that ever again.” It was an extremely frightening experience. Like a train, it roared all night. It was unsettling. The house shuddered.”
Just down the hill from his residence, the storm flooded some homes with chest-deep salt water. According to him, one house caught fire and burnt down, ejecting 30-foot flames into the stormy sky.
According to Wood, “Old Andy seemed like he didn’t care.” “It went pretty well. However, we plan to go out again next time.
Not all of Wood’s neighbors had the same favorable fortune. Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri stated that first responders were unable to respond to multiple resident emergencies overnight due to the weather. County authorities discovered at least five bodies on Friday.
Governor Brian Kemp of Georgia reported that his state has already seen 11 storm-related fatalities. Local media reported that trees falling on homes in South Carolina caused at least two fatalities.
Though a storm’s size and strength are different, with strength determined by maximum sustained wind speeds, forecasters noted that Helene was unusually large for a Gulf hurricane.
The National Hurricane Centre states that Helene’s tropical storm winds reached a distance of 310 miles (500 km) just before it made landfall. In contrast, tropical storm winds from Hurricane Idalia, a powerful storm that made landfall in Florida’s Big Bend region last year, stretched 160 miles (260 km) before it reached land. This was about eight hours before the storm reached land.
The airports located in Tampa, Tallahassee, and St. Petersburg ceased operations on Thursday and remained closed until early on Friday. The tracking website FlightAware.com reports that hundreds of flights into and out of Charlotte, North Carolina, and Atlanta experienced delays or cancellations.
The tracking website Poweroutage.us reports that over 4 million homes and businesses were without power in Florida, Georgia, and the Carolinas, and that tens of thousands more were experiencing outages in Virginia, Tennessee, and Kentucky.
According to reinsurance broker Gallagher Re, preliminary private insurance losses could range from $3 billion to $6 billion, with additional losses to federal insurance programs approaching $1 billion.
