Hurricane Helene barrels towards Florida; fierce winds, deadly storm surge expected

FLORIDA – Florida braced itself for the arrival of Hurricane Helene on Sept 26, forecast to be a powerful Category 4 storm when it smashes into the US state’s panhandle – the narrow piece of land that sticks out from the main part of the state.

Officials issued dire warnings, pleading with residents in coastal areas along the hurricane’s path to evacuate ahead of catastrophic winds and a potentially deadly storm surge, the wall of seawater pushed on land by hurricane-force winds, that could rise to 6.1m in some spots.

“This is not a survivable event for those in coastal or low-lying areas,” said Mr Jared Miller, the sheriff of Wakulla County, where Helene is forecast to make landfall. “Please heed the evacuation orders in place as time is running out to do so.”

Helene roared across the Gulf of Mexico, picking up power from the warm ocean water.

The hurricane became a Category 2 storm with sustained winds of 155kmh as it moved north-northeast at about 19kmh.

It was about 515km south-west of Tampa, Florida, the National Hurricane Centre (NHC) said in an advisory.

“Preparations to protect life and property should be rushed to completion,” it added.

It is forecast to make landfall in Florida’s panhandle on the evening of Sept 26, packing sustained wind speeds of up to 251kmh, forecasters said.

“For those in the path, that unfortunately means catastrophic wind impacts,” NHC deputy director Jamie Rhome said.

Energy facilities along the US Gulf Coast also scaled back operations and evacuated some production sites.

Reinsurance broker Gallagher Re said preliminary private insurance losses could reach US$3 billion (S$3.85 billion) to US$6 billion, with additional losses to federal insurance programmes approaching a potential US$1 billion.

Wall of water

The storm surge was forecast to reach 4.6m to 6.1m in the “Big Bend” area of Florida’s panhandle where the storm is expected to come ashore, Mr Rhome said.

More than 40 million people in Florida, Georgia and Alabama were covered under hurricane and tropical storm warnings, the hurricane centre said.  

Numerous evacuations were ordered along Florida’s Gulf Coast, including Sarasota and Charlotte counties, and dozens of counties have announced school closures, including Hillsborough and Pinellas counties.

Pinellas County officials ordered evacuations of long-term healthcare facilities, including nursing homes, assisted-living centres and hospitals near the coast. The county sits on a peninsula surrounded by Tampa Bay and the Gulf of Mexico.

Mr John Dailey, the mayor of Tallahassee, Florida’s capital city that is in the direct path of Helene, said the hurricane could be the strongest storm to ever make a direct hit on his city.

Helene could produce “unprecedented damage like nothing we have ever experienced before as a community”, Mr Dailey told reporters on Sept 25.

Torrential rains

Helene was expected to dump up to 38.1cm of rain in some isolated spots after making landfall in Florida, causing considerable flash and urban flooding, the hurricane centre said. 

Mr Rhome said about half of lives lost in hurricanes typically came from flash flooding caused by torrential rain, often among people who drive into flooded roads and are swept away. He urged those in affected areas to use extreme caution.

Mr Rhome added that the expected hurricane-force wind impact area stretched around 290km north from the Florida panhandle to southern Georgia.

“You need to prepare for prolonged (energy) outages, those trees are going to come down in strong winds, block roads,” Mr Rhome said.

After making landfall across the Florida coast, Helene is expected to move more slowly over the Tennessee Valley on Sept 27 and Sept 28, NHC said. REUTERS