A Quebecer living in Jacksonville had a narrow escape when the hurricane Helene made landfall in Florida on Thursday evening, but was still able to see a lot of damage in the aftermath of the storm.
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“The roads are extremely clogged. There are debris and palm branches everywhere. There are fences that have been vandalized (and) that are found in the middle of the street,” listed Cassandre Tremblay, in an interview with LCN on Friday.
The Quebecer remains nearly 250 kilometers from Tallahassee, where the hurricane hit the hardest and caused sudden floods and significant tree falls.
“We always have a lot of rain in Florida during hurricane season, but yesterday it was the winds that were impressive,” explained Mme Tremblay. “The palm trees were at 45 degrees and there was green lightning in the sky, which doesn’t happen often.”
“It was so loud, I’ve never heard wind like that, windows and doors were whistling everywhere,” she described.
Apart from some flooding near a river, Mme Tremblay assured that Jacksonville was “totally spared” by the floods, in particular thanks to the preparation of residents.
