Fast-moving Hurricane Helene made landfall in the Big Bend area of Florida's northwestern coast as a Category 4 storm Thursday evening, threatening a “catastrophic” storm surge as well as damaging winds, rains and flash floods hundreds of miles inland across much of the southeastern U.S., forecasters said.
Alabama, Georgia, the Carolinas and Virginia are also feeling the impact of the storm system.
Authorities in Georgia reported two people killed in a possible tornado in South Georgia as the storm approached, and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said one person died while driving on Interstate 4 when a sign fell onto their car.
The storm knocked out power to over 1 million homes and businesses in Florida and over 50,000 in Georgia as it approached and came ashore, according to the tracking site poweroutage.us.
Biden declares state of emergency for Alabama
President Joe Biden declared a state of emergency in Alabama on Thursday ahead of Hurricane Helene's landfall in nearby Florida.
The U.S. National Hurricane Center has said Hurricane Helene is unusually large and expected to have far-ranging impacts beyond Florida's Big Bend, where the storm is expected to make landfall Thursday evening. The governors of Florida, Georgia, the Carolinas and Virginia already declared emergencies in their states.
Storm surge: Deadlier than a hurricane’s winds
In 2005, Hurricane Dennis landed near the Alabama-Florida state line as a Category 3 hurricane. Far to the east, Florida’s Big Bend — where Hurricane Helene is expected to come ashore — never even felt tropical storm strength winds, but it was still hit with a mass of water that devasted coastal communities.
That’s storm surge. It’s more deadly and destructive than wind and can make a significant impact far from the center of a storm.
While wind can tear off roofs, knock down trees and snap power lines, storm surge can push buildings completely off their foundations, can trap and even drown people in their homes, wash out roads and bridges, toss boats inland and hammer anything in its path.
“The leading cause of death from hurricanes is water, not wind,” said Craig Fugate, the former director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
And in the case of Hurricane Helene, predicted storm surge as high as 20 feet could be devastating in the coastal areas of the state’s Big Bend.
Live updates on Helene can be found here.
