Hurricane Helene threatens ‘unsurvivable’ storm surge as it nears Florida
Tropical storm force winds began battering Florida on Thursday as Hurricane Helene prepared to make landfall, with forecasters warning that the enormous storm could create a “nightmare” surge along the coast and churn up damaging winds hundreds of miles inland across much of the southeastern U.S.
Helene strengthened to a major Category 4 storm ahead of its evening landfall on Florida’s northwestern coast. Hurricane and flash flood warnings extend far beyond the coast up into northern Georgia and western North Carolina.
Category 4 hurricanes have sustained winds over 130 mph (209 kmh) that can severely damage homes, snap trees and down power lines. Strong winds have already cut power to over 250,000 homes and businesses in Florida, according to the tracking site poweroutage.us.
The hurricane was about 120 miles (195 kilometers) west of Tampa and had sustained winds of 130 mph (215 kph), according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center. Life-threatening storm surges of up to 20 feet (6 meters) were expected in the Big Bend area of Florida.
The storm’s wrath was starting to be felt Thursday afternoon, with water lapping over a road on the northern tip of Siesta Key near Sarasota and covering some intersections in St. Pete Beach along Florida’s Gulf Coast. Lumber and other debris from a fire in Cedar Key a week ago was crashing ashore in the rising water.
Hurricane warnings and flash flood warnings extended far beyond the coast up into northern Georgia and western North Carolina. The governors of Florida, Georgia, the Carolinas and Virginia have all declared emergencies in their states, as did President Joe Biden for several of the states. He is sending the head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency to Florida on Friday
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