At least one person is dead in Florida after Category Four Hurricane Helene made landfall late Thursday night, with fears the death toll could rise amid a trail of destruction as it heads inland towards Georgia.
The storm was the strongest hurricane to make landfall in Florida’s Big Bend region, according to the BBC, with winds of up to 140mph. It made landfall at around 11pm on Thursday and had already caused power outages for more than one million households and severe flooding.
A state of emergency has been declared in 61 of Florida’s 67 counties, and several are under evacuation orders. Footage shared on social media showed homes flooded, bridges battered by storm surges and powerful wind gusts rattling properties.
The National Hurricane Centre said a “catastrophic and deadly storm surge” is occurring on the Florida Big Bend Coast with waves up to 20 feet high.
In Taylor County, the Sheriff’s Department wrote on social media that residents who decided not to evacuate should write their names and dates of birth on their arms in permanent ink “so that you can be identified and family notified.” Sheriff Wayne Padgett said his county would be “in the dead center” of the storm.
Florida Highway Patrol said a driver was killed after a sign fell into their car and the death toll is expected to rise on Friday. Authorities said it would probably be several hours before any rescue teams could head out to help those in need.
“When we wake up tomorrow morning, the chances are there will likely have been more fatalities,” Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said on Thursday.
“A really unsurvivable scenario is going to play out” in the coastal area, the National Hurricane Centre’s director, Michael Brennan, said in a video briefing, with the force of the water capable of destroying buildings and carrying cars pushing inland.
The hurricane has since been downgraded to a Category One and rainfall has already lashed Georgia, South Carolina, central and western North Carolina and portions of Tennessee. Atlanta, hundreds of miles north of Florida’s Big Bend, was under a tropical storm warning. Airports in Tampa, Tallahassee and St Petersburg all suspended operations on Thursday.
Helene is expected to roll through the Macon, Georgia, area on Friday, forecasters said. It could bring 12 inches (30.5 cm) of rain or more, potentially devastating the state’s cotton and pecan crops, which are in the middle of harvesting season.
“The current forecast for Hurricane Helene suggests this storm will impact every part of our state,” Georgia Governor Brian Kemp said.
On Florida’s Gulf Coast, thousands were ordered to evacuate but many opted to ride out the storm. In coastal Dunedin, Florida, about 25 miles west of Tampa, state ferry boat operator Ken Wood, 58, planned to ride out the storm with his 16-year-old cat, Andy.
“We’re under orders, but I’m going to stay right here at the house,” Mr Wood told Reuters.
Reinsurance broker Gallagher Re said preliminary private insurance losses could reach $3bn to $6bn (£2.24bn to £4.49bn), with additional losses to federal insurance programmes approaching a potential $1bn.
With agencies including Rich McKay in Atlanta, Brendan O’Brien in Chicago, Andrew Hay in Taos, New Mexico, and Brad Brooks in Longmont, Colorado
