Flooding, deluge, gusts: a “catastrophic and deadly” storm could hit Florida as early as Thursday, when the hurricane Helene will hit the peninsula. “We remain calm, but concern is growing,” says a Quebec woman living in the eastern part of the peninsula.
What you need to know
The Hurricane Helene will hit northwest Florida Thursday night as a Category 4 hurricane.
Heavy rain and strong winds are expected across much of the peninsula.
Quebecers in Florida are preparing to face the hurricane.
A state of emergency has been declared in most Florida counties, and several neighboring states are on alert.
Thousands of residents began evacuating the Florida coast on Wednesday ahead of the hurricane’s arrival. Helenewhich is heading straight for the Big Bend region in the northwest of the peninsula. When the tropical storm makes landfall Thursday night, it is expected to be a Category 4 hurricane on the five-point Saffir-Simpson scale.
Helene strengthened into a “major” hurricane – Category 3 and above – on Wednesday. The storm threatens to bring “strong winds and torrential rains to much of Florida and the southeastern United States,” according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC).
PHOTO ASSOCIATED PRESS
When the tropical storm makes landfall Thursday night, it is expected to be a Category 4 hurricane on the five-point Saffir-Simpson scale.
In Dania Beach, on Florida’s east coast, Julie Arel and her partner were trying to stay calm as storms from the hurricane approached Wednesday night.
Last week, the neighbors told me it was nothing, that there was no reason to worry, but tonight, everyone is pretty on edge.
Julie Arel, a Quebecer who lives in Florida
Dania Beach residents have been using sandbags to block water from their doors, M said.me Arel, who moves from Quebec to Florida every fall, is concerned that the rains forecast for the night will submerge the city’s roads, which are already partially flooded due to powerful high tides. “And the windows are super thin here,” she worries. “If they predict 50 mm of rain and high winds, how will it hold up?”
State of alert
The winds caused by Helene reached nearly 90 mph (140 km/h) Wednesday night after sweeping Mexico’s tourist-friendly Yucatan Peninsula. The NHC warned the storm will be “catastrophic and deadly” when it hits northwest Florida, “where flooding could cover the ground up to 20 feet (6 meters) with destructive waves.”
PHOTO PAOLA CHIOMANTE, REUTERS
Damage caused by Helene near Cancun, a Mexican city on the Yucatan Peninsula
Luc Langevin, who has lived in Tampa on the peninsula’s west coast for 10 years, believes the storm will spare his home, located inland. “But people directly on the water’s edge are at risk of flooding and many have been evacuated,” he added.
Helene moves over warm, deep waters, which promotes its intensification. A detail that does not escape Luc Langevin. “We know that with global warming, hurricanes will become bigger, unfortunately,” he says. “But for now, I don’t really notice a difference.”
PHOTO YAMIL LAGE, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
A resident of the coastal town of Guanimar, southwest of Havana, walks through a flooded street after the hurricane passed through HeleneWednesday.
Raul Tennenhaus, meanwhile, was stranded off the coast of Florida on a cruise ship Wednesday night because he couldn’t safely dock. “I had to go back to Port Canaveral [ce jeudi]but due to the arrival of the hurricane, my ship will not be able to dock until Friday,” laments the real estate broker, who divides his time between Quebec and Florida.
The young man remained calm Wednesday, although he had to cancel his return ticket to Montreal due to the delay. “I’m fine. We’re used to hurricanes here, it’s really normal,” he said.
State of emergency
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has declared a state of emergency in nearly all of Florida’s 67 counties. Ten Florida counties have issued mandatory partial evacuation orders, while two have required all residents to evacuate.
PHOTO MARCO BELLO, REUTERS
Men board up a restaurant window beforeHelene makes landfall in Cedar Key, Florida
DeSantis said at least 12 health care facilities such as hospitals and nursing homes have already begun evacuating and more are expected to follow. He also mobilized the National Guard and thousands of personnel in preparation for possible search and rescue operations, restoring power and clearing roads.
Several neighboring states are on alert. The city of Atlanta, home to five million people inland in Georgia, is expecting strong winds and heavy rain on Friday.
“The Biden-Harris administration stands ready to provide assistance to Florida and all states in the path of the storm,” the White House said after President Joe Biden attended a meeting on the subject.
With Agence France-Presse and the Associated Press