Hurricane Helene weakens after pounding Florida
Home » Hurricane Helene loses strength after hitting Florida hard
Hurricane Helene has downgraded to a category one storm following its arrival on the Florida coast.
Helene struck Florida's Big Bend region as a powerful category four hurricane, but it is weakening as it moves north toward Georgia.
The National Weather Service has indicated that Helene is likely to continue losing strength as it travels in a north-northeast direction.
Earlier this week, the Disney cruise ship Fantasy found itself spending additional time on the water due to the closure of the port by the Cayman Islands Port Authority. This decision was made on Tuesday because of Tropical Storm Helene, as reported by the Independent.
Airports such as Tampa International, Southwest Florida International, and St. Pete-Clearwater International shut down on Thursday. Tampa expects to reopen on Friday after evaluating any damage, which will start as soon as conditions allow. Meanwhile, St. Pete-Clearwater plans to resume operations on Friday morning.
Travelers are advised to verify their flight information.
In the meantime, Hurricane John made landfall in Mexico as a Category 3 hurricane on Monday and is projected to strike the country once more. Although it weakened to a tropical storm over the Pacific by the middle of the week, the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) announced on Thursday that it has strengthened again and is now on its way towards Mexico's Pacific coastline.
The UK's Foreign Office (FCDO) has revised its weather alert for Mexico, announcing that Tropical Depression John has strengthened into a Category 1 hurricane. Hurricane John is expected to impact various areas, including central, southern, and northern Colima, as well as the southern, southeastern, and southwestern regions of Michoacán, and the western and southwestern parts of Guerrero. Local officials have issued a red alert for Michoacán and an orange alert for Colima.
“Hurricane John is projected to reach the coast on September 26 at 6:00 PM.”
