Hurricane Helene upgraded to Category 2 ahead of landfall in Florida – Washington Examiner
Hurricane Helene upgraded to Category 2 ahead of landfall on Florida’s Big Bend
Hurricane Helene is expected to batter Florida‘s Big Bend as it makes landfall Thursday evening, and officials are warning of “potentially unsurvivable storm surge” where the storm is expected to strike hardest.
The storm strengthened to Category 2 on Thursday morning and is expected to reach Category 3 or higher before it makes landfall. The 8 a.m. advisory from the National Weather Service showed the storm had maximum sustained winds of 100 miles per hour, and was located 365 miles south of Apalachicola, Florida. As the storm approaches, officials are warning residents in the Big Bend of the Sunshine State.
“There is increasing confidence of catastrophic and/or potentially unsurvivable storm surge for Apalachee Bay,” according to a Thursday advisory from the National Weather Service Tallahassee. “Storm surge may begin to arrive as early as this afternoon ahead of the strongest winds, building through landfall.”
The Tallahassee NWS office also warned of expected flooding from rain, the threat of tornados, and the expected high winds wreaking havoc.
“Widespread and prolonged power outages, damage to critical infrastructure, catastrophic damage to trees and powerlines, widespread inaccessibility due to blocked roads, and damage to well-built structures will all be possible,” according to the advisory, which added that “catastrophic wind damage” will occur near the landfall part of the storm.
Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) has declared a state of emergency in 61 counties, while governors in Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia have also declared states of emergency ahead of the storm’s impacts after landfall.
On Wednesday, Federal Emergency Management Agency officials announced a partnership with the National Football League to use four stadiums for emergency shelters when necessary.
The stadiums will be designated as Mission Ready Venues, meaning they can be used as emergency shelters, temporary hospitals, staging areas, or disaster recovery centers, among other uses, when an emergency or disaster is declared.
The initial stadiums given the designation are MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey; Lumen Field in Seattle; Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh; and Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida. SoFi Stadium near Los Angeles is also under review for the designation, according to FEMA and the NFL.
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