- Source: Effects of Hurricane Helene in Florida
Hurricane Helene brought destructive effects to Florida. The eighth named storm, fifth hurricane and second major hurricane of the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season, Helene made landfall in Florida on September 26, bringing destructive effects across the state. Across Florida, Helene led to destructive winds and historical storm surge.
Preparations
Hurricane warnings were issued for the Big Bend area of Florida, with nearly all of Florida, except the westernmost part of the Florida panhandle, put under a tropical storm warning. In addition, on the evening of September 26, an extreme wind warning was issued for the east part of the Florida Panhandle, the first since Hurricane Idalia. On September 23, Governor Ron DeSantis issued a state of emergency for 41 Florida counties. The next day, this was expanded to 61 counties. U.S. President Joe Biden authorized a federal disaster declaration for 61 counties across Florida. Locally, Volusia County issued a state of emergency. Several sandbagging sites opened up across the state. On September 24, several state parks were closed: four of them in Franklin County, two in Gulf County, and one in Gadsden County.
In the Tampa Bay area, officials announced that schools would be closed ahead of the storm. A college football game between Florida A&M University and Alabama A&M University, which was scheduled for the weekend of September 28–29, was postponed until November 29 due to the storm. At Florida State College at Jacksonville, classes and activities at the campus were canceled for two days. The SpaceX Crew-9 mission, which would have launched from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on September 26, was delayed to September 28 due to the storm. The Central Florida Zoo and Botanical Gardens planned to close on September 26 and canceled events on that date.
Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party was canceled due to Helene, with SeaWorld Orlando and several other parks in Walt Disney World and Universal Orlando also closing or modifying their hours. Halloween Horror Nights was also canceled. The universities of Central Florida, Embry–Riddle Aeronautical, Florida, Florida A&M, Florida Atlantic, Florida Gulf Coast, Florida State, Keiser, Lynn, North Florida, South Florida, and Stetson announced closures of their campuses and suspended academic operations. Leon County opened up schools to be used as shelters.
On September 24, Citrus County issued mandatory evacuations for zone A, which includes coastal areas in the communities of Crystal River and Homosassa. In Wakulla County, a mandatory evacuation was ordered for all residents and visitors, while in Hernando County, mandatory evacuations were ordered for anyone west of US 19 and all residents in coastal or low-lying areas and those living in manufactured homes. Two prisons in Wakulla County holding a combined 2,500 inmates were not evacuated despite the evacuation order issued to residents. Gulf County issued mandatory evacuations for all visitors. In Charlotte County and Franklin County, mandatory evacuations were issued for barrier islands, low-lying and flood-prone areas, manufactured homes, and homes that did not meet building codes. In Sarasota County, officials issued an evacuation order for Level A and manufactured home communities on September 25.
Busch Gardens Tampa Bay, St. Pete–Clearwater International Airport, and Tampa International Airport were closed on September 26. Further north, Tallahassee International Airport was closed the same day. In Miami, parking garages open to allow residents to shield their vehicles from storm damage at no cost.
Impact
By the morning of September 26, 2024, thousands in the Tampa Bay area were experiencing power outages. Wind gusts reached 64 mph (103 km/h) in Fort Lauderdale, 72 mph (116 km/h) at Opa Locka Airport, and 67 mph (108 km/h) in Naples. Storm surges in Steinhatchee reached 9.63 feet (2.94 m). Key West experienced storm surge of 1 to 3 feet (0.30 to 0.91 m). Storm surges reached 7.18 feet (2.19 m) in Tampa. Preliminary storm surge modeling has found that areas of the Big Bend experienced inundation of more than 15 feet. About 1.3 million people lost power in the state. The Stan Gober Memorial Bridge shut down due to flooding, and all sporting events in Collier County on September 27 were canceled.
Multiple Waffle Houses in Tallahassee and one in Crawfordville shut down, raising the Waffle House Index to red, indicating the possibility of severe damage to the restaurant. Orlando International Airport, remaining open, saw 65 cancellations on September 26, and 92 cancellations occurred at Miami International Airport. The Central Florida Pipeline, which supplies fuel used for jet planes between Tampa and Orlando, was reported to be damaged as a result taking on saltwater during Helene. The pipeline is the only direct source of new jet fuel to Orlando International Airport; the airport is instead relying on trucking in fuel and reserves Several national parks experienced service disruptions due to the hurricane, with all services suspended at Dry Tortugas National Park due to storm surge.
Seventeen fatalities have been reported in Florida, including at least eleven in Pinellas County; two in Tampa involving a car accident where a sign fell on a car on I-4, along with an elderly woman who drowned inside her house; and one in Dixie County involving a tree falling on a home. Of the deaths in Pinellas, ten have been drownings and one was caused by an electrical fire that started after water rushed into a home. The Taylor County Sheriff's Office posted to social media asking for those who did not evacuate to write their birthday and other important information on their bodies in permanent marker and to email the similar information and their location to them to help search and rescue teams. Pasco County Sheriff's Office rescued around 200 people in water emergencies. In Citrus County, over 100 people and 50 pets were rescued after ten feet of storm surge hit the area. In total, over 1,000 people had to be rescued in the Tampa Bay area. In addition, rainfall totals in the county peaked at 2.66 in (68 mm) in Homosassa.
Following the storm surge, multiple buildings in Clearwater Beach caught fire. According to Taylor County sheriff Wayne Padgett, 90% of homes in Keaton Beach were destroyed. At least 24 businesses and 70 homes were also destroyed in Gulfport. In Manatee County, 230,471 structures were affected, with residential damage estimated at $347.2 million, while commercial damage reached $6.3 million, for a combined total of $353.5 million. In Bradenton, 194 homes and seven commercial buildings suffered major damage, with the damage estimated at $41 million total. In total, across Manatee and Sarasota County, the damage is estimated at $1.1 billion, with $755.7 million in Sarasota County, 3,137 buildings are also damaged or destroyed in the county.
Despite not directly affecting Volusia County, gale-force gusts downed several trees, with a peak of 53 mph (85 km/h) in the county. More than 9,000 residents were without power as of September 27. In Edgewater, a carport blew over while a tree fell through the roof of a mobile home in the Sea Horse Mobile Home Park. A large tree fell into a duplex-style home through the roof in Seminole County, affected only by the storm's outer bands. Seminole County saw 2,427 people without power, while neighboring Orange County saw 4,476 customers without power. In Apopka, the outer bands tore the roof off of a home.
Elsewhere, in Flagler County, the highest gusts recorded were in Marineland, which had winds of 63 mph (101 km/h). Approximately 20,000 residents lost power from September 26 and 27. A tree fell through a roof at home in Palm Coast, while in Palm Beach, a "small scarp" received a local surge of 18 in (460 mm).
Aftermath
In the immediate aftermath of the storm, governor Ron DeSantis distributed over 800,000 meals, a million liters of water, 28,000 bags of ice and 40,000 tarps to individuals in need. Volusia County also deployed 28 emergency responders. Holmes Beach banned tourists for 45 days after the hurricane.
Hurricane Milton also made landfall in Central Florida around two weeks later, complicating recovery from Helene and adding to the damage.
The state of Florida sued FEMA for failing to help victims affiliated with the Republican Party in the aftermath of Helene and Milton.
References
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