In the coastal forests of northern Florida, most towns were deserted Thursday, stores closed and windows boarded up as the Category 4 hurricane approached Helene. “I hope my house will still be there tomorrow,” worry the residents.
• Also read: “Extremely dangerous”: “Helene” becomes a category 4 hurricane
Approaching the Big Bend Coast, not far from the state capital Tallahassee, the hurricane Helene strengthened Thursday into an “extremely dangerous” category 4 hurricane on a scale of 5, with winds blowing at 215 km/h, according to the American National Hurricane Center (NHC).
A few hours before its arrival, some residents are still immersed in preparations for their departure after initially taking the authorities’ evacuation advice lightly.
“I was watching the conditions evolve and trying to decide if I should leave,” says Lance Palmer, a musician and actor, from a gas station.
“And this morning, the waters were already halfway to my house,” he says. “I said to myself, ‘Damn, I have to go,’” he adds, explaining that he loaded the trunk of his Jeep in front of his house in Panacea, on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico.
AFP
At this same gas station, John Luper is faced with a dilemma: he would like to take refuge in a safer and higher place, for fear of flooding, but his mother and brother refuse to listen to him.
“They won’t leave,” he said, filling jerrycans with gasoline. “I’m stuck with them.”
According to authorities, the surrounding area could be submerged by a storm surge that could cover land up to six meters above the ground.
“More on”
Further north, in Tallahassee, the Red Cross is racing against time to find makeshift shelter for those who do not have one.
REUTERS
On a school basketball court, the organization distributes food to dozens of people in single file, adults, children and elderly people alike.
In the gymnasium, some have already placed pillows and blankets on the floor.
Greg Farnsley is waiting outside, on a bench, smoking a cigarette. He had planned to take refuge with his wife in his motor home, inland, but the growing intensity of the storm frightened him.
“I’m happy to be here and not at home (…) it’s safer,” confides the sixty-year-old.
“I just hope that tomorrow afternoon the road back will be in good condition and that my house will still be there, in the state I left it,” he concludes.
