All but three of Florida’s counties are under some kind of tropical storm, flood, storm surge, or hurricane watch or warning.
The National Hurricane Center’s forecasted track of Hurricane Helene as of 11 a.m. ET on Sept. 25, 2024 (National Hurricane Center/National Weather Service).
By T.J. Muscaro
The National Hurricane Center announced that Hurricane Helene has formed in the southern Gulf of Mexico.
Its center was located 500 miles south-southwest of Tampa, Florida, at 11 a.m. ET with maximum sustained winds of 80 mph. Tropical storm-force winds (39–73 mph) extending 275 miles out from its center.
The National Hurricane Center said Helene is “expected to bring life-threatening storm surge, damaging winds, and flooding rains to large portions of Florida and the southeastern United States.”
Landfall is still expected in or around Apalachee Bay as a strong Category 3 Hurricane on Sept. 26 with maximum sustained winds of 126 mph and gusts up to 155 mph.
Tropical storm force winds are expected to extend more than 275 miles out from its center, which could put nearly all of the Florida peninsula under tropical storm conditions.
A hurricane warning has been declared from the Anclote River, just north of Tampa Bay, to Mexico Beach, Florida, and a Hurricane Watch for Tampa Bay south to Englewood near Naples.
Kevin Guthrie, the executive director of the Florida Department of Emergency Management, said that as of the morning of Sept. 25, all but three of Florida’s counties are under some kind of tropical storm, flood, storm surge, or hurricane watch or warning.
He also said the southernmost part of the peninsula was starting to feel the impact. Even though southeast Florida counties such as Miami-Dade and Broward were left out of the emergency declaration, those counties are now facing tropical storm conditions from the outer storm bands.
Tropical-storm-force winds are expected to begin impacting the central Florida west coast around Charlotte Harbor and Tampa Bay in less than 12 hours.
Several mandatory evacuation orders have been issued by county officials across the Gulf Coast.
Storm surge of up to 5–8 feet is expected in Tampa Bay, and as much as 10–15 feet is expected on the Big Bend from Carrabelle to Chassahowitzka.
Guthrie also told members of the press that his department is already working on more than 750 resource requests from counties.
Gov. Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency for 61 of Florida’s 67 counties and requested a pre-fall declaration from the federal government.
He said President Joe Biden did not approve sufficient funding from FEMA for Florida as it braces for what could be a major hurricane in less than 48 hours.
“We didn’t get approved for what we think we need to get approved for, so we’re going to go back and try to get more robust approval,” DeSantis said at a morning press conference in Tampa.
Guthrie explained that the state’s declaration was for two separate categories of federal assistance (Category A and B) for “debris removal and all emergency protective measures,” but Biden only approved some emergency protective measures under Category B for some counties and for mass assistance as it relates to evacuations and sheltering.
Biden’s approval also only applies to a total of 41 counties.
“I was talking to someone this morning about a fiscally strained rural county on our Gulf Coast that’s having to make decisions today because they’ve been hit by two storms,” Guthrie said. “They’re saying, ‘Look, we can’t afford to put the police officer out there on overtime directing traffic because we’re not guaranteed that we’re going to get reimbursed for that.
“Counties are making decisions based on what’s in that declaration,” he said.
Florida activated a multitude of resources in anticipation of Helene’s arrival, including 3,000 members of Florida’s National Guard, 18,000 linemen, 10 shallow water boat teams, and 15 cut-and-toss crews from the Florida State Guard.
An estimated 150,000 feet of flood protection devices, which successfully protected utility substations from floodwaters during Hurricane Debbie, have also been deployed, and hundreds of Starlink units are ready to be distributed to provide online access, especially for businesses that need the internet to operate.
The National Hurricane Center’s forecasted track of Hurricane Helene as of 11 a.m. ET on Sept. 25, 2024, showing inland hurricane and tropical storm watches and warnings. (National Hurricane Center/National Weather Service).
Georgia, Southeast US Prepares for Helene
The Sunshine State is not the only one preparing for Helene. The entire state of Georgia is currently under either a hurricane warning, tropical storm warning, or hurricane watch.
The southeastern corner of Alabama is also under a tropical storm warning, and a hurricane watch covers nearly half of South Carolina, and the foothills of North Carolina to the Tennessee border.
Helene’s center is expected to pass through the outer western edge of the Atlanta Metro Area on the morning of Sept. 27 as it makes its way into southern Appalachia and the Tennessee/Kentucky border.
Tropical storm warnings have been issued for the Peach State’s entire Atlantic coast and most of the South Carolina coast up to the South Santee River. A tropical storm watch extends beyond that north to Little River Inlet.
A storm surge of one to three feet is also forecasted from the South Santee River south to Volusia County, Florida.
It is forecasted to diminish to a tropical storm, with maximum sustained winds of less than 60 mph by the time it nears Georgia’s capital, but its physical size will remain intact.
Tropical storm-force winds are still expected to extend more than 70 miles northeast of the center and more than 330 miles southeast.
Georgia’s Gov. Brian Kemp declared a state of emergency on Sept. 24 so emergency management teams can prepare for impact. This includes a request for 500 National Guard soldiers.