LAST UPDATE | 27 Sep
HURRICANE HELENE KNOCKED out power for millions of customers across the southeast United States today and left at least 33 dead after it slammed into the Florida coast, officials said, warning of people still trapped in buildings.
Georgia Governor Brian Kemp reported 11 fatalities in his state, including an emergency responder. Kemp said dozens of people were still trapped in buildings damaged by the Category 4 hurricane.
Authorities say Florida has suffered seven fatalities and South Carolina saw 14 deaths including two firefighters. North Carolina has reported one fatality.
As it weakened into a tropical storm, Helene moved inland across Georgia and South Carolina, flooding roads and homes, and officials warned of flash floods and landslides from up to 50 centimetres of rain.
“This rainfall will likely result in catastrophic and potentially life-threatening flash and urban flooding, along with significant and record river flooding,” the National Hurricane Centre said.
“Numerous significant landslides are expected in steep terrain across the southern Appalachians.”
Four people had died from conditions caused by Helene as of early Friday – one in Florida, one in North Carolina and two in Georgia.
One person was killed when a sign fell on a highway in coastal Florida, Governor Ron DeSantis said.
Two people were killed in Georgia, according to Governor Brian Kemp, with local media reporting the man and woman were killed when their trailer was picked up by a tornado.
One person also died in Charlotte, North Carolina when a tree fell on a home, the fire department said.
Images on US media showed ripped billboard signs whipping in high winds and sparks flying from power lines.
More than 3.4 million homes and businesses were without power across Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas on Friday, according to tracking site PowerOutage.us.
The storm lost strength rapidly after making landfall on the coast about 50 kilometers south of the Florida state capital Tallahassee as a powerful Category 4 hurricane packing winds of 140 miles per hour.
In the impact zone, residents had been warned of “unsurvivable” storm surge.
Tampa Bay resident Matt Heller told CNN his home had been submerged in four feet of water within a half hour of the storm hitting, as he took refuge in a kayak in his flooded living room.
“This is definitely the biggest flood we’ve ever had,” he said.
President Joe Biden and state authorities had urged people to heed official evacuation warnings before Helene hit, though some chose stay in their homes to wait out the storm.
“I am going to hunker down” and ride out the hurricane, said Patrick Riickert, as he did in 2018 when deadly Hurricane Michael, a Category 5 mega storm, blew through the Florida panhandle.
He had refused to budge from his small wooden house in Crawfordville, a town of 5,000 people a few miles inland.
Most residents had bolted, but Riickert, his wife and five grandchildren were “not going anywhere,” the 58-year-old told AFP.
Rescue workers were deployed in Lee County on Florida’s coast, the sheriff said on X, sharing videos of men in high-vis gear battling against high winds to launch a rescue boat.
DeSantis had mobilized the National Guard and ordered thousands of personnel to ready for search and rescue operations, urging residents to take precautions.
“We can’t control the track of the hurricane, but what you can control is what you can do to put yourself in the best chance to be able to ride this out in a way that’s going to be safe,” DeSantis said.
Georgia’s Kemp, in a message of condolences for the two killed by the tornado, urged “all Georgians to brace for further impact from Helene, remain vigilant, and pray for all those affected” in a post on X.
Scientists say climate change likely plays a role in the rapid intensification of hurricanes, because there is more energy in warmer oceans for them to feed on.
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