Helene makes landfall in northwestern Florida as Category 4 hurricane

Crawfordville US Sep 27 AP Hurricane Helene made landfall on Thursday night in northwestern Florida as a Category 4 storm as forecasters warned that the enormous system could create a ldquonightmarerdquo storm surge and bring dangerous winds and rain across much of the southeastern USThe National Hurricane Centre in Miami said Helene roared ashore around 1110 pm EDT near the mouth of the Aucilla River in the Big Bend area of Floridas Gulf Coast It had maximum sustained winds estimated at 140 mph 225 kphHelene prompted hurricane and flash flood warnings extending far beyond the coast up into northern Georgia and western North Carolina Before it made landfall strong winds had already cut power to nearly 900000 homes and businesses in Florida according to the tracking site poweroutageusThe governors of Florida Georgia Alabama the Carolinas and Virginia all declared emergencies in their statesOne person was killed in Florida when a sign fell on their car and two people were reported killed in a possible tornado in south Georgia as the storm approachedldquoWhen Floridians wake up tomorrow morning were going to be waking up to a state where very likely theres been an additional loss of life and certainly theres going to be loss of property Florida Gov Ron DeSantis said at a news conference on Thursday nightThe National Weather Service in Tallahassee had issued an ldquoextreme wind warningrdquo for the Big Bend as the eyewall approached ldquoTreat this warning like a tornado warningrdquo it said in a post on X ldquoTake shelter in the most interior room and hunker downrdquo Helene arrived barely a year after Hurricane Idalia slammed into Floridas Big Bend and caused widespread damage Idalia became a Category 4 in the Gulf of Mexico but made landfall as a Category 3 near Keaton Beach with maximum sustained winds near 125 mph 205 kphThe storms wrath was felt widely with sustained tropicalstormforce winds and hurricaneforce gusts along Floridas west coast Water lapped over a road in Siesta Key near Sarasota and covered some intersections in St Pete Beach Lumber and other debris from a fire in Cedar Key a week ago crashed ashore in the rising waterBeyond Florida up to 10 inches 25 centimetres of rain had fallen in the North Carolina mountains with up to 14 inches 36 centimetres more possible before the deluge ends setting the stage for flooding that forecasters warned could be worse than anything seen in the past centuryHeavy rains began falling and winds were picking up earlier Thursday in Valdosta Georgia near the Florida state line The weather service said more than a dozen Georgia counties could see hurricaneforce winds exceeding 110 mphIn south Georgia two people were killed when a possible tornado struck a mobile home on Thursday night Wheeler County Sheriff Randy Rigdon told WMAZTV The damage was reported as heavy thunderstorms raked much of the state Wheeler County is about 70 miles 113 kilometers southeast of MaconForecaster Dylan Lusk said the National Weather Service issued a tornado warning for Wheeler County at 847 pm on Thursday He said its one of 12 tornado warnings the office near Atlanta issued for parts of Georgia between 1 pm and 11 pmThe storm made landfall in the sparselypopulated Big Bend area home to fishing villages and vacation hideaways where Floridas Panhandle and peninsula meetldquoPlease write your name birthday and important information on your arm or leg in a permanent marker so that you can be identified and family notifiedrdquo the sheriffs office in mostly rural Taylor County warned those who chose not to evacuate in a Facebook post the dire advice similar to what other officials have dolled out during past hurricanesStill Philip Tooke a commercial fisherman who took over the business his father founded near the regions Apalachee Bay planned to ride out this storm like he did during Hurricane Michael and the others ndash on his boat ldquoIf I lose that I dont have anythingrdquo Tooke said Michael a Category 5 storm all but destroyed one town fractured thousands of homes and businesses and caused some USD 25 billion in damage when it struck the Florida Panhandle in 2018Many though were heeding the mandatory evacuation orders that stretched from the Panhandle south along the Gulf Coast in lowlying areas around Tallahassee Gainesville Cedar Key Lake City Tampa and SarasotaAmong them was Sharonda Davis one of several gathered at a Tallahassee shelter worried their mobile homes wouldnt withstand the winds She said the hurricanes size is ldquoscarier than anything because its the aftermath that were going to have to facerdquoFederal authorities were staging searchandrescue teams as the weather service forecast storm surges of up to 20 feet 6 metres and warned they could be particularly ldquocatastrophic and unsurvivablerdquo in Apalachee BayldquoPlease please please take any evacuation orders seriouslyrdquo the office said describing the surge scenario as ldquoa nightmarerdquoThis stretch of Florida known as the Forgotten Coast has been largely spared by the widespread condo development and commercialization that dominates so many of Floridas beach communities The region is loved for its natural wonders mdash the vast stretches of salt marshes tidal pools and barrier islandsldquoYou live down here you run the risk of losing everything to a bad stormrdquo said Anthony Godwin 20 who lives about a halfmile 800 metres from the water in the coastal town of Panacea as he stopped for gas before heading west toward his sisters house in PensacolaSchool districts and multiple universities cancelled classes Airports in Tampa Tallahassee and Clearwater were closed Thursday while cancellations were widespread elsewhere in Florida and beyondWhile Helene will likely weaken as it moves inland damaging winds and heavy rain were expected to extend to the southern Appalachian Mountains where landslides were possible forecasters said The hurricane centre warned that much of the region could experience prolonged power outages and flooding Tennessee was among the states expected to get drenchedHelene had swamped parts of Mexicos Yucatan Peninsula on Wednesday flooding streets and toppling trees as it passed offshore and brushed the resort city of Cancun In western Cuba Helene knocked out power to more than 200000 homes and businesses as it brushed past the islandAreas 100 miles 160 kilometers north of the GeorgiaFlorida line expected hurricane conditions The state opened its parks to evacuees and their pets including horses Overnight curfews were imposed in many cities and counties in south GeorgialdquoThis is one of the biggest storms weve ever hadrdquo said Georgia Gov Brian KempFor Atlanta Helene could be the worst strike on a major Southern inland city in 35 years said University of Georgia meteorology professor Marshall ShepherdHelene is the eighth named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season which began June 1 The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has predicted an aboveaverage Atlantic hurricane season this year because of record warm ocean temperaturesIn further storm activity Tropical Storm Isaac formed Wednesday in the Atlantic and was expected to strengthen as it moves eastward across the open ocean possibly becoming a hurricane by the end of the week forecasters said Officials said its swells and winds could affect parts of Bermuda and eventually the Azores by the weekendIn the Pacific former Hurricane John reformed on Wednesday as a tropical storm He strengthened Thursday back into a hurricane as it threatened areas of Mexicos western coast with flash flooding and mudslidesMexico President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador raised Johns death toll to five as communities along the countrys Pacific coast prepared for the storm to make a second landfallThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever