Overview:
September 24, 2024, Tuesday – September 29, 2024, Sunday
The most powerful hurricane hit the Big Bend region of Florida. It was the deadliest hurricane in the United States since 2017. It gradually developed from a disturbance in the western Caribbean Sea in mid-September. The National Hurricane Center named it Helene. Favorable conditions allowed this low-pressure system to strengthen progressively, and by early morning on September 25, it had become a hurricane. The next day, as Helene crossed the Gulf of Mexico, it strengthened more markedly and rapidly, reaching Category 4 strength by the evening of September 26. At midnight on September 26, Helene made landfall near the city of Perry in Florida’s Big Bend region with maximum sustained winds of 140 mph. Helene weakened as it moved inland rapidly, and on September 27 it turned into a post-tropical cyclone over Tennessee. Prior to the landfall of Helene, the governors of Florida and Georgia declared states of emergency due to the significant impacts expected, including storm surges along the coast and hurricane-force winds inland as far as Atlanta.
Authorities in North Carolina announced on the night of the 29th that 30 people had died in Buncombe County alone. They said there were power outages, mobile phone outages, fallen trees, and blocked roads across the state. Buncombe County was particularly badly hit, and the whereabouts of nearly 1,000 people were unknown.
The American Red Cross has opened more than 140 evacuation centers in the southeastern states. As of the 29th, it was announced that more than 2,000 people were using these centers.
The search for survivors is a top priority in the disaster areas, with rescue teams working tirelessly to locate and assist those in need. In North Carolina, food and water are being airlifted to the disaster areas where roads have been cut off.
Many gas stations in the state are closed, and long lines of vehicles are forming at the stations that are open. Customers are flocking to the few supermarkets that are still open to buy water.
The total damage caused by the storm is estimated to be between 95 billion and 110 billion dollars.
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