With “unsurvivable” circumstances and a potentially disastrous storm surge high enough to submerge a two-story house, experts warned of a fierce hurricane that was making landfall in Florida on Thursday.
Before what is anticipated to be one of the biggest storms to hit the Gulf of Mexico in decades, tens of thousands of people lost power and roadways began to flood.
Fast-moving Helene strengthened to an “extremely dangerous” Category 4 hurricane Thursday evening, ahead of landfall expected around 11pm (0300 GMT), the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said.
It was packing winds of 130 miles (215 kilometers) per hour as it churned over the Gulf’s warm waters toward the Big Bend area south of Florida’s capital city Tallahassee.
“EVERYONE along the Florida Big Bend coast is at risk of potentially catastrophic storm surge,” the NHC said on social media.
Tampa and Tallahassee airports have closed, with parts of St. Petersburg, downtown Tampa, Sarasota, Treasure Island and other cities on Florida’s west coast already flooded.
About 125,000 homes and businesses were without power.
“We’re expecting to see a storm surge inundation of 15 to 20 feet above ground level,” NHC director Mike Brennan said. “That’s up to the top of a second story building. Again, a really unsurvivable scenario is going to play out here in this portion of the Florida coastline.”
The accompanying waves “can destroy houses, move cars, and that water level is going to rise very quickly,” Brennan added.
+ There are no comments
Add yours