Dubai Telegraph - 'Extremely dangerous' Hurricane Helene makes landfall in Florida

EUR -
AED 3.865039
AFN 71.961868
ALL 97.885367
AMD 409.705534
ANG 1.898038
AOA 960.733931
ARS 1055.061215
AUD 1.613881
AWG 1.894109
AZN 1.787029
BAM 1.951539
BBD 2.126437
BDT 125.855234
BGN 1.956342
BHD 0.396578
BIF 3110.579445
BMD 1.052283
BND 1.414399
BOB 7.293078
BRL 6.086683
BSD 1.053191
BTN 88.848028
BWP 14.387453
BYN 3.446543
BYR 20624.740218
BZD 2.122845
CAD 1.469502
CDF 3014.78969
CHF 0.929776
CLF 0.037101
CLP 1023.776253
CNY 7.619996
CNH 7.625593
COP 4626.455438
CRC 534.824751
CUC 1.052283
CUP 27.885491
CVE 110.024795
CZK 25.350861
DJF 187.538784
DKK 7.458788
DOP 63.520417
DZD 140.573397
EGP 52.274979
ERN 15.78424
ETB 131.306162
FJD 2.388363
FKP 0.830585
GBP 0.832524
GEL 2.883571
GGP 0.830585
GHS 16.7185
GIP 0.830585
GMD 74.71233
GNF 9078.051459
GTQ 8.13025
GYD 220.338958
HKD 8.189863
HNL 26.613518
HRK 7.506205
HTG 138.346648
HUF 411.186809
IDR 16734.714279
ILS 3.929639
IMP 0.830585
INR 88.911049
IQD 1379.588093
IRR 44293.214291
ISK 145.520299
JEP 0.830585
JMD 166.933965
JOD 0.746386
JPY 162.676061
KES 136.007134
KGS 91.02957
KHR 4249.68174
KMF 491.94202
KPW 947.053999
KRW 1471.222726
KWD 0.323672
KYD 0.877684
KZT 523.167824
LAK 23125.51255
LBP 94319.785398
LKR 306.411046
LRD 190.622024
LSL 19.101997
LTL 3.107117
LVL 0.636515
LYD 5.138732
MAD 10.521031
MDL 19.167154
MGA 4930.189594
MKD 61.546561
MMK 3417.773046
MNT 3575.656436
MOP 8.443666
MRU 41.866002
MUR 48.839087
MVR 16.268296
MWK 1826.195708
MXN 21.380416
MYR 4.698412
MZN 67.293799
NAD 19.101997
NGN 1768.455747
NIO 38.755022
NOK 11.613586
NPR 142.154623
NZD 1.792324
OMR 0.40513
PAB 1.053101
PEN 3.996674
PGK 4.239684
PHP 62.126243
PKR 292.773138
PLN 4.342422
PYG 8247.914831
QAR 3.840515
RON 4.977085
RSD 117.020141
RUB 106.281009
RWF 1452.315514
SAR 3.95054
SBD 8.79238
SCR 14.332083
SDG 632.944958
SEK 11.610939
SGD 1.413951
SHP 0.830585
SLE 23.75528
SLL 22065.84631
SOS 601.88026
SRD 37.282669
STD 21780.126598
SVC 9.214882
SYP 2643.891613
SZL 19.091139
THB 36.458458
TJS 11.216013
TMT 3.682989
TND 3.324243
TOP 2.464553
TRY 36.27081
TTD 7.130433
TWD 34.270209
TZS 2791.031424
UAH 43.426878
UGX 3886.514989
USD 1.052283
UYU 45.021709
UZS 13526.469111
VES 48.861031
VND 26751.65603
VUV 124.929112
WST 2.937543
XAF 654.521833
XAG 0.033884
XAU 0.000395
XCD 2.843846
XDR 0.801343
XOF 654.521833
XPF 119.331742
YER 262.991742
ZAR 19.064031
ZMK 9471.810193
ZMW 29.146091
ZWL 338.834589
  • SCS

    -0.0200

    13.07

    -0.15%

  • NGG

    -0.3100

    63.27

    -0.49%

  • AZN

    -0.6000

    63.2

    -0.95%

  • BTI

    0.1500

    37.08

    +0.4%

  • CMSC

    -0.0450

    24.52

    -0.18%

  • BCE

    -0.3100

    27

    -1.15%

  • RBGPF

    59.6900

    59.69

    +100%

  • RIO

    -0.0400

    62.39

    -0.06%

  • BP

    -0.0100

    29.08

    -0.03%

  • BCC

    -0.7700

    137.41

    -0.56%

  • GSK

    -0.1100

    33.35

    -0.33%

  • RYCEF

    -0.0800

    6.61

    -1.21%

  • CMSD

    -0.0836

    24.26

    -0.34%

  • JRI

    -0.0300

    13.23

    -0.23%

  • RELX

    -0.1800

    45.11

    -0.4%

  • VOD

    0.0200

    8.94

    +0.22%

'Extremely dangerous' Hurricane Helene makes landfall in Florida

'Extremely dangerous' Hurricane Helene makes landfall in Florida

The "extremely dangerous" Hurricane Helene made landfall in the US state of Florida on Thursday, with officials warning of "unsurvivable" conditions and a potentially catastrophic storm surge high enough to swamp a two-story house.

Text size:

More than a million people were without power and roads were already flooded ahead of what is expected to be one of the largest Gulf of Mexico storms in decades.

Fast-moving Helene strengthened to an "extremely dangerous" Category 4 hurricane Thursday, with the eye hitting near the town of Perry at approximately 11:10 pm local time (0310 GMT Friday), the US National Hurricane Center said.

It was packing winds of 140 miles (225 kilometers) per hour as it passed over the Gulf's warm waters and began hitting the Big Bend area south of Tallahassee.

"EVERYONE along the Florida Big Bend coast is at risk of potentially catastrophic storm surge," the NHC said on social media.

Tampa and Tallahassee airports have closed, with parts of St Petersburg, downtown Tampa, Sarasota, Treasure Island and other cities on Florida's west coast already flooded.

About 1,036,553 homes and businesses were without power, according to tracking site PowerOutage.us.

"We're expecting to see a storm surge inundation of 15 to 20 feet above ground level," NHC director Mike Brennan said. "That's up to the top of a second story building. Again, a really unsurvivable scenario is going to play out here in this portion of the Florida coastline."

The accompanying waves "can destroy houses, move cars, and that water level is going to rise very quickly," Brennan added.

US President Joe Biden urged people to heed official evacuation warnings.

"I urge everyone in and near the path of Helene to listen to local officials and follow evacuation warnings," he said. "Take this seriously, and be safe."

- 'I'm stuck with them' -

Authorities in Florida's Taylor County asked residents who did not act on mandatory evacuation warnings to write their names on their bodies with permanent marker, to aid in identification if they are killed.

In Alligator Point, a coastal town on a picturesque peninsula in the storm's path, David Wesolowski was taking no chances.

"I just came to button up a few things before it gets too windy," the 37-year-old real estate agent told AFP as he boarded up his house on stilts.

"If it stays on course, this is going to look different afterwards, that's for sure," he said.

Patrick Riickert refused to budge from his small wooden house in Crawfordville, a town of 5,000 people a few miles inland.

Most residents have bolted, but Riickert, his wife and five grandchildren were "not going anywhere," the 58-year-old insisted.

"I am going to hunker down" and ride out the hurricane, as he did in 2018 when deadly Hurricane Michael, a Category 5 mega storm, blew through the Florida panhandle.

At a gas station in Panacea, John Luper said he was reluctantly staying put because his mother and brother refused to flee to higher ground.

"They're not going to leave," he said, filling jerry cans with fuel. "I'm stuck with them."

The NHC warned of up to 20 inches (51 cm) of rain in some spots and potentially life-threatening flooding, as well as numerous landslides across the southern Appalachians.

The National Weather Service said the region could be hit extremely hard, with floods not seen in more than a century.

"This will be one of the most significant weather events to happen in the western portions of the area in the modern era," it warned.

Tornado warnings went out across northern Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas.

More than 55 million Americans were under some form of weather alert or warning from Hurricane Helene.

- 'Multi-state event' -

"This is going to be a multi-state event with the potential for significant impacts from Florida all the way to Tennessee," Federal Emergency Management Agency administrator Deanne Criswell told reporters.

Vice President Kamala Harris said the White House was watching.

"The President and I, of course, are monitoring the case and the situation closely, and we urge everyone who is watching at this very moment to take this storm very seriously," she told reporters.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis mobilized the National Guard and ordered thousands of personnel to ready for search-and-rescue operations.

He warned that the powerful storm would be dangerous and urged everyone to take precautions.

"We can't control how strong this hurricane is going to get. We can't control the track of the hurricane, but what you can control is what you can do to put yourself in the best chance to be able to ride this out in a way that's going to be safe," DeSantis said.

Helene could become the most powerful hurricane to hit the United States in over a year -- and almost certainly the biggest, at nearly 500 miles across.

Scientists say climate change likely plays a role in the rapid intensification of hurricanes, because there is more energy in warmer oceans for them to feed on.

H.Yousef--DT