Big Bend shoulders third hurricane in 13 months

Hurricane Helene tore into Florida's Big Bend region as a Category 4 storm — the strongest hurricane ever recorded to hit the area.

The big picture: The deadly hurricane made landfall near Perry in rural Taylor County, unleashing an unprecedented 15- to 20-foot storm surge on the region and leaving over a million residents across the state without power.

• It's the third hurricane to hit Taylor County in just over a year. Helene made landfall with maximum sustained winds estimated at 140 miles per hour.
• Residents of four Florida counties — Taylor, Madison, Hamilton and Suwannee — are completely without power, according to a USA Today power outage tracker .
• The sheriff's office in Taylor warned those who refused to evacuate to "write your name, birthday, and important information on your arm or leg in a PERMANENT MARKER so that you can be identified."

Zoom in: Tallahassee dodged a direct hit from the storm but still felt its impact.

• Leon County Administrator Vince Long told the Tallahassee Democrat that while there are reports of fallen trees on structures, no widespread damage to buildings occurred.
• The full extent of the damage in Leon County will become clear once assessments begin at dawn, Long said.

Suwannee County, east of Tallahassee, suffered "extensive damage," with fallen trees, downed powerlines and severe damage to buildings and homes, the sheriff's office said in a Facebook post.

• "We're fearing the worst when the sun comes up."