Hurricane Helene made landfall in Florida’s Big Bend region as a Category 4 storm, causing dangerous storm surges, power outages, and multiple fatalities as it moved inland toward Georgia and the Carolinas.
Hurricane Helene made landfall late Thursday night in Florida’s Big Bend region as a Category 4 storm, generating sustained winds of 140 mph and unleashing a catastrophic storm surge that threatened the Gulf Coast.
The National Hurricane Center (NHC) confirmed Helene struck near the mouth of the Aucilla River at approximately 11:10 p.m., with hurricane-force winds extending outward up to 60 miles from its center and tropical-storm-force winds reaching 310 miles.
The most severe danger from the storm was a life-threatening storm surge, with areas between Carrabelle and the Suwannee River potentially facing inundation as high as 20 feet above ground level. The storm surge risk extended throughout the west coast of the Florida Peninsula, with the NHC describing the scenario as “catastrophic,” urging residents to take immediate shelter from the storm’s destructive winds and flooding potential.
” Helene continues to produce catastrophic winds that are pushing further inland over the Florida Big Bend and Florida Panhandle and will soon be entering southeastern Georgia,” the agency said in its midnight update. “This is an extremely dangerous and life-threatening situation.”
Widespread impacts were felt across the southeastern U.S., with more than a million homes and businesses in Florida losing power. Thursday night, Gov. Ron DeSantis confirmed one fatality in Tampa, where a sign fell onto a vehicle, killing the driver. Two additional deaths were reported in Georgia due to a suspected tornado spawned by the storm. DeSantis, addressing the media on Thursday night, commented that Helene’s destruction would likely lead to additional loss of life and substantial property damage.
“This is a big storm,” the governor said. “When Floridians wake up tomorrow morning, we’re going to be waking up to a state where there’s been additional loss of life.”
The storm is expected to weaken as it tracks further inland, but not before leaving critical damage in northern Florida, Georgia, and the Carolinas. Winds and rains are expected to extend well into the Appalachian Mountains, raising the threat of widespread flooding and landslides, particularly in areas already saturated by earlier rainfall. The National Weather Service warned of long-duration power outages across much of the impacted areas, and authorities urged caution in using generators to prevent deadly carbon monoxide poisoning.
Coastal areas and low-lying regions in Florida were under mandatory evacuation orders as Helene approached, with airports in Tampa, Tallahassee, and Sarasota closing ahead of the storm. Helene is the eighth named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season.