Hurricane Helen strengthened to a major Category 4 hurricane with winds of 140 mph as its eyewall began moving ashore Thursday night, bringing damaging winds and storm surge to Florida's Big Bend, according to the National Hurricane Center.
“Helena is producing catastrophic winds that will spread ashore in the Florida Big Bend region over the next few hours,” the NHC said in an update at 10 p.m. ET. “This is an extremely dangerous and life-threatening situation. People should not leave their shelters and remain in place during these life-threatening conditions.”
In a special 6:20 p.m. update, the NHC said a NOAA Hurricane Hunter aircraft found maximum sustained winds had increased to 130 mph, making it a Category 4 hurricane. It took less than four hours since the NHC found it had grown to a major hurricane In category 3, which collects energy from the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico.
By 10 p.m., it had grown to sustained winds of 140 mph and was located about 65 miles west-northwest of Cedar Key and 65 miles south of Tallahassee as it moved north-northeast at 24 mph.
“Catastrophic and deadly storm surge is expected along parts of Florida's Big Bend coast, where flooding could reach up to 20 feet above the ground, along with destructive waves,” said NHC Senior Hurricane Specialist Jack Beban. “There is also a threat of a life-threatening storm surge along the rest of the west coast of the Florida peninsula. Residents in these areas should follow advisories issued by local officials and evacuate if told to do so.”
A NOAA National Ocean Service tide gauge located at Clearwater Beach recently reported a water level of 6.18 feet above high water. The National Ocean Service tide gauge at Cedar Key reports a water level of 5.76 feet above high water.
By 8:00 p.m., hurricane-force winds had expanded to 60 miles and tropical-storm-force winds were 310 miles from the center.
A weather station at Venice Municipal Airport reported a sustained wind of 46 km/h and a gust of 69 km/h, while another observation near Venice Beach reported a sustained wind of 51 km/h and a gust of 66 km/h.
“Very concerned about a number of life-threatening hazards that are going to start playing out here in just the next couple of hours,” said NHC director Michael Brennan, who updated his hazards in a 5:30 p.m. report.
He was particularly concerned about the area between Apalachicola and Chashowicz, where 10 to 20 feet of storm surge could flood the area above ground, “especially near and to the right of where the center of Helen crosses the coast.”
“20 feet is enough to flood a two-story building. On top of that there will be devastating wave action, especially near where the hurricane makes landfall,” he said. “So it's going to create unsurvivable conditions in those areas.”
He said it would be a very dangerous night.
“We also expect catastrophic hurricane-force winds inside Helen's eyewall where it makes landfall on Florida's Big Bend coast tonight, and hurricane-force winds are going to spread inland across parts of northern Florida and Georgia overnight tonight and early Friday.” , he said. “So again, take shelter in the interior of well-built buildings, well-built houses, away from windows away from the potential for falling trees to hit you.”
Power outages increased throughout the day across the country, with more than 630,000 customers by 9:30 p.m., according to poweroutage.us.
At least one fatality may be blamed on the storm, according to Tampa's Spectrum Bay News, which reported a fatal crash on Interstate 4 was being investigated after traffic cameras showed what appeared to be an overhead sign falling onto a vehicle.
From the coast of Fort Myers to Tampa Bay, the surge from the hurricane intensified during the afternoon into the evening flooding roads and shutting down bridges. Several barrier islands are now impassable, with law enforcement saying they can no longer respond to distress calls from anyone who chooses not to evacuate.
Gov. Ron DeSantis held a news conference before 6:00 PM from the State Emergency Operations Center in Tallahassee with a status update.
He says landfall is expected closer to Taylor County east of Tallahassee around 11 p.m
“We're going to see some impact soon, but right now you still have time to evacuate,” he said of residents in North Florida in the storm's path. However, he said it's been a while for those down the Gulf Coast like the Tampa area.
The damage will be significant in North Florida, he said.
“You've got a top 125 mph right now, it's probably going to be higher, whether it hits a Category 3, Category 4, it's going to be a significant storm,” he said. “And even as it moves in across North Florida, you're going to see trees that are going to come down . It's just the reality of what we're doing, of what we're seeing here, and if you hear the tree limbs snapping around you, sometimes it almost sounds like fireworks going off, treat it like a tornado, shelter in a part of the house where you'll have protection from it.”
He said to avoid standing water, don't drive through flooded streets and don't go outside when it's dark outside.
“There will be dangers there. It's just not something you want to navigate in the dark,” he said.
And if suddenly it becomes calm in the middle of the storm, it is probably the eye of the storm. Don't go out then either.
After the storm, there may be downed power lines. And generator users should keep them safely away from their homes to avoid death from carbon monoxide poisoning.
“We can't control the strength of this hurricane. We can't control the path of the hurricane,” DeSantis said. “But what you can control is what you can do to put yourself in the best chance of being able to ride it in a way that will be safe.”
The National Weather Service has also issued a tornado watch covering most of the Florida peninsula from north central Florida to the Keys until 8:00 p.m. and northern Florida until 10:00 p.m. He extended the watch to central Florida and north Georgia until 6 a.m.
Wind gusts above 60 mph forced the Florida Highway Patrol to shut down the Sunshine Skyway Bridge across Tampa Bay in the afternoon, then closed the Howard Frankland Bridge, the Courtney Campbell Causeway and the Gandy Bridge connecting Tampa to St. Petersburg.
Brennan warned of strong winds north of the landfall up to the Tallahassee area and even farther into Georgia.
“Everyone in this area should be prepared for hurricane-force winds, the potential for long-term power outages, structural damage, tree damage, trees falling on homes, outside on cars or people if you're outside, and the potential for catastrophic wind damage near where Helen's core falls on Florida Big Bend Beach,” he said.
“Storm wave effects, winds and rain will move far away from the center and outside the forecast cone, especially on the eastern side,” Beban said. “Additionally, the fast forward speed as Helen moves inland will cause strong inland winds to penetrate parts of the southeastern United States, including strong gusts over higher terrain of the southern Appalachians. … A higher-than-normal gust factor is indicated in the official forecast while Helen is inland.”
DeSantis also spoke at a 9 a.m. press conference of the state EOC in Tallahassee.
“It's a very large storm, so you're going to see tropical weather moving hundreds of miles away from the center of the storm,” he said.
But even though the landing will be in North Florida, Gulf Coast cities including Sarasota and Tampa are not out of danger.
“Because it's such a big storm, it's dumping a lot of water, so you're going to see waves all along the west coast of Florida,” he said. “The water is going to rise, and that creates hazards as well. So just because you're out of the cone, and I think a lot of these parts of the west coast of Florida are probably out of the cone, that doesn't mean you're not going to see significant impacts.”
The Florida Division of Emergency Management responded to 1,100 requests from counties with requests such as generators and water-intensive vehicles.
Also, the state will have 30,000 lines that will be on standby to respond to expected power outages after the storm passes.
“On the forecast track, Helen will move through the eastern Gulf of Mexico today and cross Florida's Big Bend coast this evening or early Friday morning,” Bevan said. “After landfall, Helen is expected to turn northwest and slow over the Tennessee Valley on Friday and Saturday.”
Helen is expected to drop 6-12 inches of rain, with some areas reaching 18 inches across the southeastern United States.
“This amount of rain is likely to result in areas of significant flash and urban flooding, with areas of significant river flooding,” forecasters said. “Possible Landslides in Areas of Steep Terrain in the Southern Appalachians”.
Inland tropical storm watches are in place for the US as deep as Georgia, including Atlanta, as well as western South Carolina and western North Carolina.
“We don't normally issue tropical storm watches this far inland, especially here over the Appalachians,” Rahm said. “So it's unusual. You really have to pay attention. There's also a big flood risk.”
DeSantis urged residents to heed local evacuation orders and avoid the tragedy seen in 2022 Hurricane Ian that killed 149 people in Florida, most of whom were caught in a large storm surge in southwest Florida.
“The field is so big with the winds and it's going to make a lot of waves that you're likely to see something significant, especially in the barrier islands and those low areas,” he said. “So we always say you can hide from the wind, especially with buildings in Florida built in modern times, but you run from the water, because if that water is really crashing, there's not much you can do about it at this point.”
Each county has designated shelters, including at least one that will allow residents to take their pets.
“You don't have to get in your car and drive 350 miles away. You can safely evacuate to higher ground,” he said. “There are shelters, there are hotels, friends' houses, family. It's all fine.”
