Cat 4 Hurricane Helene strikes Florida, leaving 1 dead & millions without power

Hurricane Helene was initially formed in the Caribbean Sea on this Tuesday as a Tropical Storm, after it brought heavy rains and huge waves to the Cayman Islands. As a result, schools were forced to close while residents pumped water from flooded homes.

Two Disney cruises also had to make last-minute changes to their itineraries after the storm activity from Hurricane Helene and civil unrest forced the ocean liners to stay at the sea.

Forecasters warned the storm could strengthen into a major hurricane as it moved toward the southeast United States.

On Tuesday afternoon, US President Joe Biden approved Florida's state of emergency declaration while the National Weather Service in Tallahassee, Florida, asked general public to take potential evacuations seriously.

It emphasized that the anticipated 10 to 15 ft of surge is not survivable and as forecasted, Hurricane Helene developed into a category one hurricane on Wednesday.

The storm then strengthened overnight Thursday into a category two hurricane and around 24 hours later, it increased to a category three storm as it began lashing Florida as early as this Thursday morning.

The recent forecast shows that the real tropical moisture from Hurricane Helene has arrived and heavy rain will continue throughout much of the day. There might be times where it’s not “as heavy” but today is a complete washout in Florida and neighbouring areas.

The Hurricane has now downgraded to Category 1 and it made a landfall at 11:10 PM local time near Perry, Florida as a Category 4 Hurricane. 

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Heavy rainfall is ongoing and expected to cause major flash flooding and urban flooding across much of Florida as well as portions of the southeastern US and southern Appalachia. 

One person is reported to be killed and another person was injured in Florida due to falling debris caused by the storm. Mandatory and voluntary evacuation orders are in effect for thousands of residents in at least 27 counties across the Florida Panhandle and western Florida coast. 

Around 1,652 people are taking shelter in schools of Leon County District. Power outages are impacting over 1 million utility customers in north-central Florida, with Dixie and Leon counties impacting over 48 percent of the total customers.