Death toll continues to rise in Florida, Georgia, and the Carolinas; Helene downgraded to tropical depression
The National Hurricane Center has said Helene is now a tropical storm as it moves farther inland over Georgia. It noted that “life-threatening storm surge, winds, and heavy rains continue.”
In a 4am update, the National Hurricane Center said “Helene continues to move inland over central Georgia and is producing hurricane-force winds and heavy rainfall.”
Continue reading...Residents in several states suffer power outages and heavy flooding as officials warn of ‘very dangerous environment’
Helene has reportedly killed at least 40 people across four states and inflicted about 4m power outages and dangerous flooding across the south-eastern US after crashing ashore in north-western Florida late on Thursday as a potent category 4 hurricane.
The storm – which registered maximum sustained winds of 140mph – weakened to a tropical storm and then to a depression as it moved across Georgia as well as the Carolinas on Friday afternoon, when residents whose communities experienced Helene’s peak effects more directly were only just beginning to fathom the recovery process ahead.
Continue reading...More than 50 patients and staff evacuated from Unicoi hospital in Erwin after deadly hurricane overwhelms area
More than 50 hospital patients and staff were airlifted from the roof of the building in Tennessee on Friday afternoon in a dramatic rescue operation after flash flooding overwhelmed the area.
An urgent evacuation was launched as the storm effects of Hurricane Helene were felt far and wide, with the state emergency agency and the national guard responding to the situation that quickly unfolded at Unicoi hospital in Erwin, Tennessee, about 100 miles outside Knoxville.
Continue reading...Surge could rise to as much as 20ft in some spots after huge storm strengthened as it careened across Gulf of Mexico
Hurricane Helene made landfall along the Florida coast on Thursday night as a powerful and potentially disastrous category 4 storm, bringing chaos to a wide swathe of the Gulf coast and threatening high winds, storm surges and drenching rainfall.
Helene was located about 70km east-southeast of Tallahassee, Florida, with maximum sustained winds of 225 kph, the Miami-based UA National Hurricane Center said late on Thursday.
Continue reading...Forecasters warn that storm, one of the most powerful to hit the US this year, could create a ‘nightmare’
Hurricane Helene strengthened to a catastrophic category 4 storm as it barreled toward Florida’s Gulf coast, making it one of the most powerful storms to hit the US this year.
The storm is expected to make landfall on Thursday night. Forecasters warn the enormous storm could create a “nightmare” scenario, with a potentially life-threatening storm surge that could reach 15-20ft (4.6-6.1 meters) in the Big Bend area of Florida’s Panhandle region.
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