Helene smashes into the Big Bend

Hurricane Helene roared into the Big Bend region of Florida overnight, bringing record storm surge and widespread flooding across a broad swathe of northern and Gulf Coast Florida while causing billions of dollars in damage. 

The Associated Press said Helene had weakened to a Category 1 hurricane early today with maximum sustained winds of 75mph. It was about 100 miles from Augusta and 40 miles from Macon moving at about 30 mph, the hurricane center in Miami said in a 4 am EST update.

The storm made landfall in northwestern Florida as a Category 4 storm as forecasters warned the enormous system could create a “nightmare” storm surge and bring dangerous winds and rain across much of the southeastern US There were at least three storm-related deaths.

The hurricane centre said Helene roared ashore around 11.10 p.m. on Thursday near the mouth of the Aucilla River in the Big Bend area of Florida’s Gulf Coast. It had maximum sustained winds estimated at 140 mph. That location was only about 20 miles northwest of where Hurricane Idalia came ashore last year at nearly the same ferocity and caused widespread damage.

Aon said the storm underwent rapid intensification upon its approach to Florida. Extreme rainfall has caused widespread flooding across the southeast US, while more wind, rain, and surge impacts are imminent at the time of writing. Total economic and insured losses may reach into the billions of dollars. 

Prior to the storm making landfall, Gallagher Re suggested that a landfall in the Big Bend or Panhandle region as a major hurricane could result in insured losses in the range of $3 billion to $6 billion. 

More than 1.2 million homes and businesses were without power in Florida, more than 190,000 in Georgia and more than 30,000 in the Carolinas, according to the tracking site poweroutages. The governors of those states and Alabama and Virginia all declared emergencies.

One person was killed in Florida when a sign fell on their car and two people were reported killed in a possible tornado in south Georgia as the storm approached.

“When Floridians wake up tomorrow morning, we’re going to be waking up to a state where very likely there’s been additional loss of life and certainly there’s going to be loss of property,” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said at a news conference last night.

Helene was moving rapidly inland after making landfall, with the centre of the storm set to race from southern to northern Georgia through early Friday morning. The risk of tornadoes also would continue overnight and into the morning across north and central Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and southern North Carolina, forecasters said. Later Friday, there would be the risk of tornadoes in Virginia.

“Helene continues to produce catastrophic winds that are now pushing into southern Georgia,” the hurricane center said in an update at 1 a.m. Friday. “Persons should not leave their shelters and remain in place through the passage of these life-threatening conditions.”

Michael, a Category 5 storm, all but destroyed one town, fractured thousands of homes and businesses and caused some $25 billion in damage when it struck the Florida Panhandle in 2018.

This stretch of Florida known as the Forgotten Coast has been largely spared by the widespread condo development and commercialization that dominates so many of Florida’s beach communities. The region is loved for its natural wonders including the vast stretches of salt marshes, tidal pools and barrier islands.

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 because of record-warm ocean temperatures.

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