By John Oyewale
Hurricane Helene left a wide path of destruction from Florida to Ohio in addition to dozens of dead, according to reports.
At least 62 people have died: 23 from South Carolina, 17 from Georgia, 12 in Florida, 10 in North Carolina and one in Virginia, CBS News reported Saturday.
“The early reports we’ve received is that the damage in those counties that were really in the eye of the storm has exceeded the damage of Idalia and Debby combined,” Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis told reporters in a news conference Friday, according to the outlet.
“We have a lot of damage throughout the state, water mostly on the west coast and the peninsula,” DeSantis added.
Extraordinary imagery of Hurricane Helene’s eye wall, loaded with lightning.
Hurricane Helene is now a dangerous, Category 4 storm. pic.twitter.com/fZnsA0y0UT
— CIRA (@CIRA_CSU) September 26, 2024
The storm made landfall just east of the mouth of the Aucilla River in north Florida at around 11:10 p.m. EDT Thursday, according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC). Having made landfall as a Category 4, the hurricane featured winds reaching about 140 mph, according to the NHC. It then moved northward, with winds slowing down to a tropical storm-force speed of 45 mph, NHC Director Michael Brennan said Friday morning.
11:20pm EDT 26th September — #Hurricane #Helene has made landfall in the Florida Big Bend region at around 11:10pm EDT just E of the mouth of the Aucilla
River.Max sustained winds at landfall were estimated at 140 mph & a min pressure of 938 mb.
Info: https://t.co/1OTHyJkqja pic.twitter.com/WWohcTqpBa
— National Hurricane Center (@NHC_Atlantic) September 27, 2024
Nonetheless, there was “a very serious, widespread, catastrophic flash flooding situation” unfolding “from North Georgia through upstate South Carolina into western North Carolina and now extending into southwestern Virginia,” Brennan added. (RELATED: Wild Scenes Coming Out as America Braces For Intense Hurricane)
This is what a 15 ft storm surge from Cat 4 Hurricane #Ian looked like in #FortMyers. Now, the NHC predicts #Helene could strengthen to a Cat 4 (115 kn winds before landfall), potentially bringing storm surges of:
15-20 ft: Carrabelle to Suwannee River, FL
10-15 ft: Apalachicola… pic.twitter.com/UiivD9kA9Z— Dr. Mona Hemmati (@HemmatiMona) September 25, 2024
As of 10:00 a.m. CDT Saturday, Helene, spinning across the Tennessee Valley, was downgraded to a post-tropical cyclone, according to the NHC. Significant river flooding would continue across the southern Appalachians and many households were suffering extensive power outages in parts of the southeast U.S., the Miami-based center added.
North Carolina and South Carolina bore the majority of the power outages, with each state facing over one million outages; more than 840,000 Florida customers and almost 950,000 Georgia customers lost power, according to the Associated Press.
Flooding and downed power lines posed dangerous hazards, and generators placed less than 20 feet from homes ran the risk of causing fatal carbon monoxide poisoning, the NHC warned.
DeSantis told reporters Saturday at Dekle Beach in north Florida’s Taylor County that 11 people were confirmed as dead across Florida. The county, despite the “really monumental storm surge … in excess of 15 feet” as the hurricane crashed ashore, suffered no reported fatalities at the time of writing thanks to the prompt responses of both residents and local officials.
Governor DeSantis Visits Dekle Beach Following Hurricane Helene https://t.co/o40l0JTOQT
— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) September 28, 2024
Describing the destruction in the Peach State, Republican Georgia Governor Brian Kemp told the Associated Press it “looks like a bomb went off.”
Among the dramatic effects of the hurricane captured on video, Fox News meteorologist Bob Van Dillen interrupted his live broadcast to rescue a woman who was screaming from within her car in chest-deep floodwaters in Atlanta.
HEROIC RESCUE: @foxweather meteorologist rushes to save a woman from rising floodwaters as deadly Helene slams Southeast. pic.twitter.com/Nv9tvtFJoF
— Fox News (@FoxNews) September 27, 2024
In addition, a house was swept away and then fell apart in Asheville, North Carolina, ABC11 Eyewitness News footage shows.
Video of a house floating away and collapsing in Asheville as tropical storm Helene floods the area. pic.twitter.com/6HORGSg8cX
— ABC11 EyewitnessNews (@ABC11_WTVD) September 27, 2024
The U.S. Coast Guard also rescued a man and his dog adrift on a boat disabled by the storm off southwestern Florida’s Sanibel Island, video shows.
In another incident, over 50 people were winched to safety from the rooftop of Unicoi County Hospital in Erwin, Tennessee, videos from the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency and Virginia State Police show.
UPDATE: More than 50 individuals have been safely evacuated from the Unicoi County Hospital.
This video is from a TEMA District Coordinator who responded to the initial evacuation request Friday morning. pic.twitter.com/hHrheYUfoh
— Tennessee Emergency Management Agency (TEMA) (@TennesseeEMA) September 27, 2024
Helene, the eighth named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season — which starts June 1 — was the largest storm system in history to hit Florida’s Big Bend region. Two other hurricanes hit the region in the preceding 13 months.
President Joe Biden expressed support for those affected, saying in a statement released Saturday, “I am deeply saddened by the loss of life and devastation caused by Hurricane Helene across the Southeast. The road to recovery will be long, but know that my Administration will be with you every step of the way. We’re not going to walk away. We’re not going to give up.”
