Category 2 Hurricane Helene moves over the Gulf of Mexico headed to the west coast of Florida (USA), whose authorities alert the population about “deadly” floods and tornadoesin addition to strong winds and rains that will reach states in the southeast of the country and will cause the closure of their airports.
Many towns along this coastal strip are under the threat of a storm surge that could raise the sea up to six meters of its average level and produce “catastrophic” flooding, as the National Hurricane Center (NHC) has warned. USA.
Several homes and businesses on the west coast of Florida woke up closed this Thursday, and with the windows and doors boarded up to face the strong gusts that Helene is expected to unleash. On this Thursday morning she registered sustained winds of 165 kilometers per hour (105 miles) and is expected to enter the strait as a major hurricane.
Schools in all counties, except those in southern Miami-Dade, classes have been canceled as a precautionary measure against the imminent arrival of Helene, whose center was located at mid-morning this Thursday 405 kilometers (255 miles) southwest of Tampa, in western Florida. Airports have also been affected, specifically Tampa International Airport, St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport and Tallahassee International Airport in Florida, which have announced the closure of activity until they have assessed the damage that the storm may cause.
Other airfields such as Orlando and Miami have remained open, as confirmed on their websites or social networks, although they have also been affected. Based on FlightAware data, the Tampa airport has been the one that more movements have been canceled this Thursday with more than 400 between departures and takeoffs. Others, such as Southwest Florida, have added approximately 150 suspensions, while Hartsfield-Jackson has more than a hundred cancellations.
The airline most affected by Helene has been Southwest, with 201 operations canceled, followed by American Airlines (121), Delta (114), United (89) and Spirit (84). Furthermore, companies They started offering exemptions to customers earlier this week so they could reschedule their plans around the storm.
Tornado danger
The National Service Meteorology of the US has warned this Thursday about the possibility of tornadoes forming during the course of the day, a warning that covers some 17 million people and large cities such as Miami, Orlando, Tampa and Fort Myers.
The governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis, reported that there are “tens of thousands” of workers ready to restore the power supply, given the expectation that many towns will be left in the dark due to the impact of Helene, which is estimated to make landfall late at night. this Thursday as a category 3 hurricane or higher on the Saffir-Simpson scale, a maximum of 5. “There is going to be bad weather during the last part of the day here in the state of Florida,” warned DeSantis, who has declared the state of emergency in 61 of the state’s 67 counties, as have their counterparts in Georgia, the Carolinas and Virginia.
DeSantis noted that they have sent more than 130 electric generators to gas stations to ensure the supply of fuel once the hurricane passed, and asked residents to act with caution during the passage of the hurricane. hurricane. Meteorologists have highlighted the dimensions of the cyclone, whose tropical storm force winds extend up to 555 kilometers (345 miles) from its center, a characteristic that will expand the scope of its destructive effects.
In fact, this Thursday, the president of the United States, Joe Bidensigned an emergency declaration to Georgiaas it did days ago in favor of Florida, measures that allow the sending of federal assistance, including emergency personnel and food, water and electrical generators. Helene is expected to make landfall somewhere in the region known as Big Bend, not very populated and where Category 1 Hurricane Debby made landfall last August, and in August 2023 the powerful Hurricane Idalia made landfall.
