People walk down a street with a dog in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene on September 27, 2024 near Steinhatchee, Florida. Hurricane Helene made landfall nearby last night as a category four storm but has weakened as it moves inland. (Photo by Sean Rayford | Getty Images)
The pre-Hurricane Helene emergency declaration from President Joe Biden enabled the federal government to pre-stage resources, speeding the response, Erik Hooks, deputy administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said Friday.
Hooks said the agency has more than 1,500 federal personnel focused on the storm and an additional 700 in the region “that can pivot to support.”
Ken Graham of the National Weather Service said the extent of Helene’s winds was “staggering,” emphasizing that the storm remained a hurricane six hours after landfall.
“Luckily, the forecast was accurate,” Graham said. “We could really focus on those impacts. If you really think about it, this really gave us some time to not worry about the forecast, but really worry about those hazards, especially those inland hazards, which we’re seeing come true with the rainfall.”
According to Graham, landfall came only 40 miles away from the original forecast. He said it was “one of the more aggressive hurricane center forecasts” to go out as early as it did.
The National Weather Service does not have a peak storm surge report yet, Graham said —full reports of the storm’s effects around the region will be available in the coming days. Graham did say, though, that Tampa experienced more than 6 feet of surge, 100 miles east of the eye.
Daniel Hibner, commanding general of the South Atlantic Division of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, said infrastructure damage assessment is continuing.
“We were focused on Leon County and Tallahassee,” Hibner said. “It shifted a bit, not much, but enough to make a difference in really major impacted areas for infrastructure in Jefferson County, Taylor, and Madison.
“Of course, we did have record storm surge in Tampa Bay. That water came in very fast, it’s receding very fast, but we’re still at the point of getting our assessments done to determine what exactly what kind of infrastructure may have been damaged.”
Hibner said additional generators are due in Tallahassee Saturday.
Jennifer Pipa, vice president for disaster programs with the American Red Cross, said the organization is housing at least 9,400 evacuees across 143 shelters from Florida to North Carolina.
A representative of the Coast Guard said the military branch had assisted nine people as of early Friday morning, especially in shallow water rescue.
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State and local officials are reporting more than half a dozen deaths in the wake of Hurricane Helene, which came ashore late Thursday night in the Big Bend region as a powerful Category 4 storm.
Gov. Ron DeSantis said at a Friday morning news conference that at least two Floridians died as a result of the storm. But Pinellas County officials reported on Friday there were an additional five fatalities there overnight, two from drowning.
The storm made landfall in Dekle Beach in Taylor County with maximum sustained winds of 140 mph, according to the governor.
“We saw storm surges in many parts of the west coast of Florida that exceeded what we saw in Hurricane Idalia, which took a similar track, it was similar strength, maybe a little bit weaker, but you were seeing significantly more storm surge in places like Tampa Bay, we also saw major storm surge, of course, in the Big Bend region,” DeSantis said.
DeSantis reported the first death Thursday evening after a road sign fell on a car traveling on Interstate 4 in Ybor City in Hillsborough County. The second, he said, was in Dixie County after a tree fell on a house. No additional information was immediately available on the Pinellas deaths.
DeSantis did report, though, in all state responses to calls for rescue, “We were able to find the person or people and pets and bring them to safety.”
According to Find Energy , 669,422 customers are without power in Florida as of Friday morning. Another site, Poweroutage.u.s., showed more than a million Florida electric customers without power.
As of DeSantis’ news conference Friday morning, 22 counties have more than 30% of customers without power. Columbia, Hamilton, Suwannee, and Taylor all had 99% of customers without power. Baker, Dixie, Gilchrist, Jefferson, Lafayette, Levy, Union and Wakulla all had more than 80% of customers without power as of the governor’s news conference.
Efforts to clear roads are ongoing, with the most up-to-date traffic information being provided on FL511 , according to Department of Transportation Secretary Jared Perdue.
Some airports closed in advance of the storm, all of which plan to be open “at some point” Friday. Those airports include Tallahassee International, Tampa International, St. Pete-Clearwater International, Lakeland Linder International, and Gainesville Regional.
DeSantis thanked first responders who rescued Floridians overnight.
“This is not something that’s easy. The conditions were still very problematic in many respects, up and down the state. Yet we had our folks respond,” DeSantis said.
The City of Tallahassee said it was working to clear roads and restore power. Initial damage assessments indicated that more than 50 roads were blocked by downed trees. Florida Power & Light, the state’s largest electric utility, said Thursday that it had restored power to more than 65% of customers affected by Helene.
“Though our system held up well and our team of thousands continues to work around-the-clock, some of our customers remain without power,” FPL President and CEO Armando Pimentel said. “To them, we have a simple message: We will not stop until your lights are back on.”
President Joe Biden has directed Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Deanne Criswell to travel to Florida to survey the damage and meet with state and local officials, per White House pool coverage. The president has approved emergency declaration requests from the governors of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina and more 1,500 FEMA and federal personnel have been deployed to the region, including 11 urban search and rescue teams, medical teams and power restoration teams. Federal resources have supported approximately 400 rescues, the White House said.
This story was produced by the Florida Phoenix which is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network, including the Daily Montanan, supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity.
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