Hurricane Helene makes landfall in Florida as powerful category 4 storm

Hurricane Helene struck the Florida coast on Thursday night as a strong and possibly devastating category 4 storm, causing havoc across much of the Gulf coast. It posed risks of strong winds, dangerous storm surges, and heavy rainfall.

Helene was positioned roughly 70 kilometers east-southeast of Tallahassee, Florida, with top sustained winds reaching 225 kph, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami, which provided the update late Thursday.

This week, a massive storm quickly developed and intensified as it sped through the warm waters of the Gulf, gaining momentum.

The storm surge from Helene, which is the massive wall of seawater driven onto land by the strong winds of the hurricane, may reach heights of up to 20 feet (6.1 meters) in certain areas.

"This situation is not something people in coastal or low-lying regions can endure," stated Jared Miller, the sheriff of Wakulla County along the Florida coastline. "It's crucial to follow the evacuation instructions currently in effect because there's limited time to act."

Emergency situations have been announced in Florida, Georgia, the Carolinas, Virginia, and Alabama.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has advised residents in northern Florida to evacuate quickly, cautioning them about potential flooding, road blockages, and power failures. While the storm is predicted to decrease in strength upon making landfall, it is advancing rapidly and may still cause widespread impact.

“You can expect extremely strong winds, akin to those of a hurricane, extending about 50 miles from the center of the storm. Additionally, there will still be substantial water rise, especially in the Big Bend region,” DeSantis announced during a news conference on Thursday night at Florida's emergency operations center in Tallahassee.

John Dailey, the mayor of Tallahassee, Florida's capital, stated that Hurricane Helene might be the most powerful storm to strike his city directly. He warned reporters on Wednesday that Helene could cause "unprecedented destruction" unlike anything the community has faced in the past.

Climate scientists have raised alarms that rising global temperatures are leading to a rise in both the frequency and intensity of severe hurricanes. Although no single storm can be directly attributed to climate change, the trend of experiencing more numerous and intense hurricanes is fueled by the warming of the Earth's oceans and seas. A significant portion of Helen's strength was derived from the energy it absorbed while traversing the Gulf of Mexico, which has recorded extremely high temperatures in recent years.

Helene is expected to become one of the biggest storms to strike the area in many years, according to Phil Klotzbach, a hurricane expert from Colorado State University, who spoke with the Associated Press. He noted that since 1988, only three hurricanes in the Gulf have been larger than what is projected for Helene: Irma in 2017, Wilma in 2005, and Opal in 1995.

Some areas in Florida experienced the effects of the storm even before it hit the shore. For instance, in places like Fort Myers Beach, the water level was already two feet higher than usual on Thursday morning. By Thursday evening, cities like Tampa and St. Petersburg faced storm surges reaching up to five feet.

The hurricane is predicted to move along the southeastern coastline after it hits land, progressing from Florida to North Carolina. More than 50 million residents are currently facing hurricane and tropical storm alerts.

As darkness settled over the North Carolina mountains, emergency responders urged locals to move to higher ground due to the approaching Hurricane Helene. The region had already experienced significant rainfall from a previous storm, and meteorologists warned that an extra 9 to 14 inches of rain could be expected as what is left of Helene passes through on Thursday night and into Friday.

"We're witnessing flooding in locations that have never experienced it before due to this storm," stated Jimmy Brissie, the head of emergency services in Henderson County, located south of Asheville.

Helene caused widespread power outages in western Cuba as it moved by the island, impacting around 160,000 residents in Artemisa and an additional 70,000 in nearby Pinar del Río. The hurricane also prompted the evacuation of about 800 individuals from areas at risk of flooding, as reported by Guerrillero, a local newspaper.

On Wednesday, a storm overwhelmed areas of Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, causing street flooding and knocking down trees while moving along the coast near the resort city of Cancún.

Helene is the eighth storm to be named in this year’s Atlantic hurricane season, which kicked off in June. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has forecasted that this hurricane season will be more active than usual, largely due to unprecedented warm sea temperatures.

This report includes contributions from Reuters and the Associated Press.