CRAWFORDVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Emergency crews rushed Friday to rescue people trapped in flooded homes after Helene roared ashore as a powerful Category 4 hurricane in Florida, causing a massive storm surge and knocking out power to millions of customers in several states had turned off. At least 21 people have been killed in four states.
Red Cross Volunteers of Mass. go to Florida to help with relief efforts for Helene
Georgia Governor Brian Kemp said dozens of people were still trapped in buildings damaged by Helene. Authorities were having a “tough time getting anywhere,” so teams with chainsaws were “working to clear roads,” Kemp told a news conference.
The storm made landfall late Thursday in a sparsely populated area with maximum sustained winds of 140 mph (225 km per hour) in the rural Big Bend area, home to fishing villages and resorts where Florida’s Panhandle and the Peninsula meet. But the damage extended hundreds of miles north, with flooding as far away as North Carolina, where a lake used in scenes from the movie “Dirty Dancing” exceeded a dam. Several hospitals in southern Georgia were without power, and one in Tennessee was closed.
“Thank God we’re both alive to tell about it,” Rhonda Bell said after a towering oak tree crashed through the roof outside her home in Valdosta, Georgia.
Video on social media sites showed rain coming down and siding on buildings in Perry, Florida, near where the storm arrived. One local news station showed a house destroyed, and many communities imposed curfews.
“It’s really heartbreaking,” said Stephen Tucker, after the hurricane ripped off the brand new roof of her church in Perry, Florida. It had to be replaced after Hurricane Idalia last year.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said damage from Helene in the area appears to be greater than the combined damage from Idalia and Hurricane Debby in August. “It’s demoralizing,” he said.
President Joe Biden said he was praying for survivors as the head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency moved into the area. The service deployed more than 1,500 workers and they assisted with 400 rescues by late morning.
Many of the stranded people in places like Tampa could only be reached by boat, while officials elsewhere warned that the water could contain live wires, sewage, sharp objects and other debris.
“If you are stuck and need help, please call rescuers – DO NOT TRY TO ENTER FLOOD ON YOUR OWN,” the sheriff’s office in Citrus County, Florida, warned in a Facebook post, while expressing concern that the tide could be a new could cause a wave of up to 30 percent. 10 feet (3.05 meters).
More than four million homes and businesses were without power in Florida, Georgia and South Carolina as of Friday morning, according to poweroutage.us, which tracks utilities.
Kemp said at least 11 people have died in his state. At least six others died in South Carolina, two in Florida and two in North Carolina.
The deaths included one person who died in Florida when a sign fell on their car. Two others were reportedly killed in a possible tornado in southern Georgia as the storm approached.
The hurricane made landfall near the mouth of the Aucilla River on Florida’s Gulf Coast. That location was only about 20 miles (32 kilometers) northwest of where Idalia struck with almost the same ferocity last year, causing extensive damage.
Cities as far inland as Atlanta were soaked, and in some neighborhoods only mailboxes and car roofs stuck out of the water. Kemp mobilized another 1,000 National Guard troops, on top of the 500 he had mobilized earlier.
As the eye of the hurricane passed over Valdosta, a city of 55,000 near the Florida border, dozens of people huddled in a darkened hotel lobby early Friday. As the wind howled outside, water dripped from the light fixtures in the lobby dining area.
Fermin Herrera, 20, his wife and their two-month-old daughter left their room on the top floor of the hotel, where they took shelter because they feared trees would fall on their Valdosta home.
“We heard some rumbling,” Herrera said, as she rocked the sleeping baby in a downstairs hallway.
Helene is the third storm to hit the city in just over a year. Tropical Storm Debby caused power outages for thousands of people in August, while Hurricane Idalia damaged an estimated 1,000 homes in Valdosta and surrounding Lowndes County a year ago. Now the windows of some downtown storefronts were shattered and the store awnings were mangled.
Shortly after crossing land, Helene weakened to a tropical storm, with maximum sustained winds dropping to 70 miles per hour. As of 11 a.m. Friday, the storm was about 100 miles (165 kilometers) northeast of Atlanta and was moving north at 32 mph (52 kph) with maximum sustained winds of 47 mph (75 kph), the National Hurricane Center in Miami reported.
Forecasters expected the system to weaken further as it moves into Tennessee and Kentucky and dumps heavy rain across the Appalachian Mountains, risking mudslides and flash flooding.
Even before landfall, the storm’s wrath was felt widely, with sustained tropical storm force winds and hurricane force winds along the west coast of Florida. Officials pleaded with residents to evacuate.
“Please write your name, date of birth and important information on your arm or leg in a PERMANENT MARKER so that you can be identified and your family can be notified,” the sheriff’s office in mostly rural Taylor County, Florida, warned. those who chose not to evacuate. a Facebook message. The dire advice was similar to what other officials have given during previous hurricanes.
Outside Florida, up to 10 inches of rain had fallen in the mountains of North Carolina, with another 14 inches more possible before the deluge ends, paving the way for flooding that forecasters warned could be worse than anything else. seen in the past century. Evacuations were underway in several parts of the state on Friday and about 300 roads were closed.
The Connecticut Army National Guard sent a helicopter to assist in the state.
“It’s terrible. I don’t know if I’ll ever see anything like this again,” said Spencer Tate Andrews of Asheville, North Carolina.
School districts and several universities have canceled classes. Florida airports that were closed were expected to reopen Friday, and inspectors were scrutinizing bridges and causeways along the Gulf Coast to quickly reopen them to traffic, the state’s Transportation Secretary said.
A day before reaching the U.S., Helene flooded parts of Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula, flooding streets and toppling trees as it brushed the resort town of Cancun and passed offshore. In western Cuba, Helene knocked out power to more than 200,000 homes and businesses as it swept across the island.
Helene was the eighth named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, which began on June 1. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has forecast an above-average Atlantic hurricane season this year due to record warm ocean temperatures.
This is a development story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
Download the FREE Boston 25 News App for the latest news alerts.
Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Tweet. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW
