(Bloomberg) — Hurricane Helene barreled into the western coast of Florida with dangerous winds, knocking out power for more than a million customers and threatening to unleash deadly flooding across several states.
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Helene made landfall near Perry with top sustained winds of 140 miles (225 kilometers) per hour, according to an advisory from the US National Hurricane Center, making it a Category 4 on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale.
The hurricane’s massive size means it’s expected to bring torrential rain and flooding to cities hundreds of miles away, including Atlanta and Asheville, North Carolina. Prior to making landfall, its outer winds extended out 310 miles, with storm causing widespread disruptions to ground and air travel.
Over 1.3 million homes and businesses are without power across southeast US, according to PowerOutage.us, with the vast majority in Florida. The storm also shut in about a quarter of Gulf of Mexico oil production and a fifth of gas activities, according a Thursday notice from the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement.
Helene plowed ashore in Florida’s rural Big Bend region, near the state’s capital Tallahassee that has a population of about 200,000. Governor Ron DeSantis said it would be one of the strongest storms to strike at the city in memory.
The system strengthened in the last hours prior to landfall, with its top winds edging up to 140 miles (220 kilometers) per hour in final two hours just before coming ashore, according National Hurricane Center advisories.
Earlier in the evening, the National Weather Service’s Tallahasee unit had warned of “extremely dangerous hurricane winds” lasting through midnight. “Treat these imminent extreme winds as if a tornado was approaching and move immediately to an interior room or shelter NOW!” it said on X.
Storm surge warnings are in effect along almost all of Florida’s west coast, including the Tampa Bay area, which could see up to 8 feet of water. Meteorologist Bryan Bennett said the Tampa Bay area is currently experiencing “the worst storm surge in over 100 years and the water is still rising.”
Total damages and economic losses may reach $15 billion, depending on how long Helene can sustain its most dangerous winds, said Chuck Watson, a disaster modeler with Enki Research. Helene is the fourth hurricane to hit the US Gulf Coast this year.
(Updates details throughout.)
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