CRAWFORDVILLE, Fla. (AP) — A rapid movement Hurricane Helene The typhoon was moving across the Gulf of Mexico toward Florida on Thursday, threatening to bring “catastrophic” storm surge to the northwestern part of the state as well as high winds, rain and flash flooding hundreds of miles inland across much of the southeastern United States, forecasters said.
Helene was upgraded Thursday morning to a Category 2 storm and is expected to become a major hurricane — meaning Category 3 or higher — when it makes landfall on the northwest coast of Florida Thursday night. Hurricane and flash flood warnings have extended well off the coast to south-central Georgia. The governors of Florida, Georgia, the Carolinas and Virginia have all declared states of emergency in their states.
Rain began to fall in the predawn darkness Thursday along U.S. Highway 98, which winds through countless fishing villages and resorts along Florida’s Big Bend. Closed gas stations dotted the two-lane road, their windows covered with plywood to protect against the storm.
The storm is expected to make landfall in the Big Bend region, where the peninsula and northern Florida meet, according to Jack Beven, senior hurricane specialist at the National Hurricane Center in Miami.
“Whatever its strength, this is a very large storm,” Beven said. “It will impact a large area.”
Mandatory evacuation orders extended from the southern part of the peninsula along the Gulf Coast to low-lying areas around Tallahassee, Gainesville, Cedar Key, Lake City, Tampa, and Sarasota.
Forecast from the National Weather Service office in Tallahassee storm surges Snowstorms could reach up to 20 feet and could be particularly “catastrophic and unsurvivable” in Florida’s Apalachee Bay. High winds and heavy rain could also pose risks.
“If these predictions come to pass, it will be a nightmare for Apalachee Bay,” the office said. “Please, please take any evacuation orders seriously!”
Owners secure their boats outside the Davis Islands Yacht Club, Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024, ahead of Hurricane Helene in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O’Meara)
This part of Florida, known as the Forgotten Coast, has been largely untouched by the widespread condominium development and commercialization that dominates so many of Florida’s beach communities. This sparsely populated region is prized for its natural wonders: vast expanses of salt marshes, tide pools and barrier islands, the dwarf cypress trees of Tate’s Hell State Forest and Wakulla Springs, considered one of the largest and deepest freshwater springs in the world.
Anthony Godwin, 20, found a gas station outside Crawfordville where the tanks were still working Thursday morning to fill up before heading west toward his sister’s house in Pensacola.
Godwin lives about a half-mile from the water in the coastal town of Panacea, and while Hurricane Michael in 2018Godwin said the water came up to the end of the family’s driveway when the storm surge reached about 12 feet. This time, they’re bracing for much worse.
“We’re not really hopeful. We’re realistic,” Godwin said. “It’s part of life. When you live here, you run the risk of losing everything to a storm. That’s just the way it is.”
Along Florida’s Gulf Coast, school districts and several universities have canceled classes.
Helene was located about 320 miles (515 kilometers) southwest of Tampa Thursday morning and was moving north-northeast at 12 mph (19 km/h) with sustained winds of 97 mph (155 km/h). Forecasters said it was expected to become a Category 3 hurricane or higher, meaning winds could reach 110 mph (177 km/h).
Although Helene will likely weaken as it moves inland, its “rapid progress will allow strong and damaging winds, particularly gusty, to penetrate well inland across the southeastern United States,” including the southern Appalachians, the hurricane center said. The center issued lesser tropical storm warnings as far north as North Carolina and warned that much of the region could experience prolonged power outages, downed trees and dangerous flooding.
Storm Helene slammed into parts of Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula on Wednesday, flooding streets and toppling trees as it passed offshore and brushed the resort town of Cancun.
A shopper walks past empty shelves in the bread section of a Walmart, Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024, in Tallahassee, Fla. (AP Photo/Phil Sears)
The storm formed Tuesday in the Caribbean SeaIn Cuba, the government preemptively cut power to some communities as waves as high as 5 metres (16 feet) pounded Cortes Bay. In the Cayman Islands, schools closed and residents pumped water from flooded homes.
According to Phil Klotzbach, a hurricane researcher at Colorado State University, Helene is expected to be one of the largest storms in years to hit the region. He said that since 1988, only three Gulf hurricanes have been larger than Helene’s predicted size: Irma in 2017, Wilma in 2005 and Opal in 1995.
Areas within 100 miles (160 kilometers) north of the Georgia-Florida border can expect hurricane-prone weather. More than half of Georgia’s public school districts and several universities have canceled classes.
For Atlanta, Helene could be the worst disaster to hit a major city in the interior South in 35 years, said Marshall Shepherd, a meteorology professor at the University of Georgia.
Landslides were possible in the southern Appalachians, and precipitation was expected as far south as Tennessee, Kentucky and Indiana.
Federal authorities have deployed generators, food and water, as well as search and rescue and power restoration teams.
Helene is the eighth named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, which began June 1. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has predicted an above-average Atlantic hurricane season this year. due to record ocean temperatures.
Tropical Storm Isaac formed Wednesday in the Atlantic and is expected to strengthen as it moves eastward over open ocean, possibly becoming a hurricane by the end of the week, forecasters said. Isaac was about 700 miles (1,115 kilometers) northeast of Bermuda with sustained winds of 53 mph (85 kph), according to the hurricane center, which said its waves and winds could affect parts of Bermuda and possibly the Azores by the weekend.
In the Pacific, former hurricane john The hurricane strengthened into a tropical storm Wednesday and strengthened into a hurricane again Thursday morning, threatening parts of Mexico’s western coast with flash floods and landslides. Authorities have issued hurricane warnings for southwestern Mexico.
Storm John hit the country’s southern Pacific coast Monday night, killing at least two people, triggering landslides and damaging homes and trees. became a Category 3 hurricane Within hours, it made landfall east of Acapulco. It reappeared over the ocean after weakening inland.
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Hollingsworth reported from Mission, Kansas. Associated Press writers Seth Borenstein in New York; Jeff Amy in Atlanta; Danica Coto in San Juan, Puerto Rico; Andrea Rodríguez in Havana; Mark Stevenson and María Verza in Mexico City; and Claire Rush in Portland, Ore., contributed to this report.
