The monstrous hurricane Heleneone of the strongest storms in the last century in the Gulf of Mexico, made landfall Thursday evening on the northwest coast of Florida, with destructive winds blowing up to 225 km/h.
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• Also read: “It won’t be easy”: a Quebecer in Florida prepares for Hurricane “Helene”
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“People who have lived here longer told me to be careful, because this time it’s going to be hard. It’s going to hit,” confided Hervé Alcesilas, a Frenchman who has lived in Tallahassee for five years.
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For Florida’s capital, it could be “the most powerful storm to ever hit in recorded history,” Mayor John Dailey told CNN.
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Faced with his arrival, Mr. Alcesilas was rather mixed.
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“On the one hand, I’m excited to experience this, but I’m also scared. I’m not going to sleep at night to watch what’s happening,” explained the owner of the Little Paris restaurant.
The Category 4 hurricane, classified as extremely dangerous, made landfall in the area around 11:20 p.m. and was already a monster in the Gulf of Mexico. The winds blew at 215 km/h and its field extended over hundreds of kilometers, flooding the streets of several dozen towns.
According to Governor Ron DeSantis, one person had already died late in the evening after being struck by a torn road sign in Tampa.
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Fear of losing everything
Following the advice of his friends, the French restaurateur spent the last few hours sheltering his terrace, bringing in the chairs and anything that could fly away.
“If we lose electricity, I have neighbors who will come and plug in their generator. I am assured, but I don’t like it, losing food,” confided Hervé Alcesilas.
On the coast near Tallahassee, several decided to flee, after protecting the windows of their homes with wooden planks, according to AFP, but others decided to stay.
Storm surges began to hit Florida’s west coast in the Tampa area in the afternoon. In the bay, the water level had risen by around 1.6 meters around 8 p.m. Authorities predicted tides of more than six meters in the Big Bend region.
Silent destruction
“Here, it’s (storm surges) more the problem. It’s a silent destruction, the water is coming into the city and it doesn’t stop,” explained Sonia Gauthier, owner of a beauty salon on St. Armands Island, in Saratosa.
Around his business, the streets were already flooded last night and several homes had lost power.
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Moreover, emergency services officials in Taylor County, Florida, were not laughing. They asked people who decided not to evacuate to write their name and date of birth on their arm or leg with a permanent marker… to make it easier to identify the bodies.
Helene must then continue its trajectory in the states of Georgia, Tennessee and South Carolina.
Inland, authorities particularly fear flash floods linked to heavy rains, as well as possible mudslides or landslides, particularly in the Appalachians.
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“We’re probably going to lose a lot of lives,” Jamie Rhome, deputy director of the National Hurricane Center, told CNN, anticipating “historic flooding,” where water could rise 15 feet.
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“If people try to leave their homes, the water rises with great force, with huge waves. There is debris in the water. “It’s not a situation where it’s possible to survive,” he said.
– With TVA News
