TAMPA, Florida: Hurricane Helene was set to slam into the Florida coast as a “catastrophic” Category 4 storm on Thursday (Sep 26), the United States weather service said, threatening up to 6m of deadly ocean surge and pummelling winds as residents rushed to get out of harm’s way.
The fast-moving storm was a Category 2 early on Thursday, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) in Miami said, packing wind speeds of 155kmh as it churns over the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico.
The NHC said it is expected to make landfall near the state’s Big Bend by Thursday evening or early Friday, warning that “damaging” winds may “penetrate well inland across the southeastern US, including over the higher terrain of the southern Appalachians”.
Along with the storm surge and fierce winds, it warned of up to 46cm of rain and potentially life-threatening flooding as well as “numerous” landslides across the southern Appalachians.
“Preparations to protect life and property should be rushed to completion,” the hurricane centre said.
Several states are in the potential path, and Atlanta, a Georgia metropolis hundreds of miles from the Gulf Coast, home to five million people, is forecast to experience close to tropical storm-force winds and heavy rain into Friday.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis issued a state of emergency for nearly all of Florida’s 67 counties.
He mobilised the National Guard and positioned thousands of personnel to prepare for possible search and rescue operations and power restoration.
“The impacts are going to be far beyond the eye of the storm,” DeSantis said.
A White House statement said President Joe Biden’s administration “stands ready to provide further assistance to Florida, and other states in the path of the storm”.
Helene earlier lashed Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula, home to multiple tourist hotspots.
Sixteen Florida counties have announced mandatory partial evacuation orders, while two have ordered the evacuation of all residents.DeSantis said at least 62 health care facilities, from hospitals to nursing homes, have already begun evacuations.
