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Report
Millions of people to be impacted by Helene
AccuWeather
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9/25/2024
AccuWeather's Bill Wadell is in Apalachicola, Florida, where people were urged to evacuate as soon as possible. Helene is expected to make landfall on Thursday as a major hurricane impacting millions.
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00:00
Bill, storm surge and flooding is a huge concern in that coastal down. Of course I
00:06
don't think there's a reporter that has more experience than storm surge than
00:10
you do, having experienced one of the largest storm surges we've ever seen on
00:15
a landfalling storm in the United States and that was of course at Fort Myers
00:20
Beach during Hurricane Ian. Yeah that's right Bernie, Ariella, and that's why
00:26
AccuWeather expert meteorologists are so concerned about the forecast with
00:31
these storm surges possible 10 feet, 15 feet or greater. That's one of the
00:35
reasons why we are not staying here for the landfall of this storm. You could see
00:39
the building that we're at, this home next to us, just how close it is to the
00:43
water with the rivers, the creeks, and of course the bay that's around
00:46
Apalachicola. When you're talking about this much storm surge, this is a
00:49
life-threatening situation. That's why there's mandatory evacuations in this
00:53
area and we are dealing with some rain and storms moving through this morning
00:57
and that's complicating the process for people trying to get ready and trying to
01:00
get sandbags. Now AccuWeather is forecasting Helene to bring wind gusts
01:05
that could reach 130 miles an hour here in Apalachicola, Florida. So we are
01:10
talking about destructive and life-threatening wind gusts from this
01:14
storm. Six to ten feet of storm surge possible here, four to eight inches of
01:18
rainfall, and the worst impacts in Apalachicola, Florida are expected to
01:22
arrive just after midday tomorrow. Now there are a handful of businesses so far
01:28
that have boarded up their windows and blocked their doors with sandbags to try
01:32
and prevent floodwaters from getting inside. We expect to see more of these
01:36
preparations happening today. We met Kimberly Bennett. She was born and raised
01:40
here in Apalachicola, lived here virtually her entire life. She's been
01:44
through a lot of storms and says even with a mandatory evacuation order, she
01:48
and many of her friends and family here likely will be staying put and hunkering
01:52
down instead of evacuating. We've been here for a long, long, long time. It hasn't been
01:59
here. Like I said, you don't never know. So I'm just hoping it's just a bad wind and
02:03
water. We all live around it, so it's gonna be water. But other than that, I hope nothing
02:08
else bad. Nobody gets hurt or pass away or anything like that. Officials are
02:14
urging people here in Franklin County, Florida and Apalachicola, evacuate by
02:18
noon today if you are going to do so. Trying to leave right before impacts
02:23
arrive and especially trying to leave in the middle of this storm will be
02:26
incredibly dangerous. Bernie and Ariella, this region is known as the Forgotten
02:32
Coast for Region. There are a lot of tall trees here, a lot of untouched, pristine
02:37
beaches, but that's just one of the concerns with wind gusts that could
02:40
reach 130 miles an hour. We're talking about those tall trees that can come
02:44
down, and we have seen in past hurricanes not just blocking roads and
02:48
blocking evacuation routes, but trees slicing right into homes, through the
02:53
roofs, hurting people. That's why there's so much concern with this storm. That's
02:57
why officials are urging people get away from the water, get away from this risk
03:01
of storm surge. This is going to be the deadliest threat with Helene is the
03:05
storm surge. But again, the wind with the trees coming down, debris flying, this is
03:09
expected to be a very dangerous storm. That's why there is a mandatory
03:12
evacuation order starting at noon today here in Apalachicola, Florida. Bill, I
03:18
want to put this storm in perspective. Now, it does all depend on where the
03:22
center comes through, but if the center goes just off to the east of
03:27
Apalachicola, let's say near Mexico Beach, that building behind you, turn
03:31
around and take a look at it, that'll be gone. There will be nothing left of
03:35
that building because of the wind and storm surge. That's the problem. I just
03:40
want everybody that lives anywhere between Panama City Beach and also
03:45
Steinhatchee, where this can come through, and again, we'll zone in a little
03:48
closer tomorrow. That's kind of the devastation and the destruction that
03:53
we're going to see with this. I just want people to understand that as we move
03:57
forward. And Bertie, we had that conversation live on the AccuWeather
04:02
Network right before Hurricane Ian. You had me walk up to that building. It's
04:06
even tough for us to visualize knowing the real risk with this storm, and Ian
04:10
was just a tragic example here in Florida. You're telling people there is
04:13
a risk that storm surge is going to wash away your house, and that sadly is
04:18
what we saw happen in Fort Myers Beach, Florida. We were there one day
04:21
standing next to houses high and dry when we were finally able to get back
04:25
into the hardest hit areas of Fort Myers Beach. Homes like this and other
04:29
buildings just washed away.
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