‘Catastrophic’ Hurricane Helene races towards Florida

AFP | Tampa

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Hurricane Helene was set to slam into the Florida coast as a “catastrophic” Category 4 storm Thursday, the US weather service said, threatening up to 20 feet (six meters) of deadly ocean surge and pummeling winds as residents rushed to get out of harm’s way. The fast-moving storm was a Category 2 early Thursday, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) in Miami said, packing wind speeds of 100 miles (155 kilometers) an hour as it churns over the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico.

The NHC said it is expected to make landfall near the state’s Big Bend by Thursday evening or early Friday, warning that “damaging” winds may “penetrate well inland across the southeastern United States, including over the higher terrain of the southern Appalachians.” Along with the storm surge and fierce winds, it warned of up to 18 inches (46 cm) of rain and potentially life-threatening flooding as well as “numerous” landslides across the southern Appalachians.

“Preparations to protect life and property should be rushed to completion,” the hurricane center said. Several states are in the potential path, and Atlanta, a Georgia metropolis hundreds of miles from the Gulf Coast, home to five million people, is forecast to experience close to tropical storm-force winds and heavy rain into Friday. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis issued a state of emergency for nearly all of Florida’s 67 counties.

He mobilized the National Guard and positioned thousands of personnel to prepare for possible search and rescue operations and power restoration. “The impacts are going to be far beyond the eye of the storm,” DeSantis said. A White House statement said President Joe Biden’s administration “stands ready to provide further assistance to Florida, and other states in the path of the storm.” Helene earlier lashed Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula, home to multiple tourist hotspots.