Millions of people to be impacted by Helene

AccuWeather

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.

Transcript

00:00Bill, storm surge and flooding is a huge concern in that coastal down. Of course I

00:06don't think there's a reporter that has more experience than storm surge than

00:10you do, having experienced one of the largest storm surges we've ever seen on

00:15a landfalling storm in the United States and that was of course at Fort Myers

00:20Beach during Hurricane Ian. Yeah that's right Bernie, Ariella, and that's why

00:26AccuWeather expert meteorologists are so concerned about the forecast with

00:31these storm surges possible 10 feet, 15 feet or greater. That's one of the

00:35reasons why we are not staying here for the landfall of this storm. You could see

00:39the building that we're at, this home next to us, just how close it is to the

00:43water with the rivers, the creeks, and of course the bay that's around

00:46Apalachicola. When you're talking about this much storm surge, this is a

00:49life-threatening situation. That's why there's mandatory evacuations in this

00:53area and we are dealing with some rain and storms moving through this morning

00:57and that's complicating the process for people trying to get ready and trying to

01:00get sandbags. Now AccuWeather is forecasting Helene to bring wind gusts

01:05that could reach 130 miles an hour here in Apalachicola, Florida. So we are

01:10talking about destructive and life-threatening wind gusts from this

01:14storm. Six to ten feet of storm surge possible here, four to eight inches of

01:18rainfall, and the worst impacts in Apalachicola, Florida are expected to

01:22arrive just after midday tomorrow. Now there are a handful of businesses so far

01:28that have boarded up their windows and blocked their doors with sandbags to try

01:32and prevent floodwaters from getting inside. We expect to see more of these

01:36preparations happening today. We met Kimberly Bennett. She was born and raised

01:40here in Apalachicola, lived here virtually her entire life. She's been

01:44through a lot of storms and says even with a mandatory evacuation order, she

01:48and many of her friends and family here likely will be staying put and hunkering

01:52down instead of evacuating. We've been here for a long, long, long time. It hasn't been

01:59here. Like I said, you don't never know. So I'm just hoping it's just a bad wind and

02:03water. We all live around it, so it's gonna be water. But other than that, I hope nothing

02:08else bad. Nobody gets hurt or pass away or anything like that. Officials are

02:14urging people here in Franklin County, Florida and Apalachicola, evacuate by

02:18noon today if you are going to do so. Trying to leave right before impacts

02:23arrive and especially trying to leave in the middle of this storm will be

02:26incredibly dangerous. Bernie and Ariella, this region is known as the Forgotten

02:32Coast for Region. There are a lot of tall trees here, a lot of untouched, pristine

02:37beaches, but that's just one of the concerns with wind gusts that could

02:40reach 130 miles an hour. We're talking about those tall trees that can come

02:44down, and we have seen in past hurricanes not just blocking roads and

02:48blocking evacuation routes, but trees slicing right into homes, through the

02:53roofs, hurting people. That's why there's so much concern with this storm. That's

02:57why officials are urging people get away from the water, get away from this risk

03:01of storm surge. This is going to be the deadliest threat with Helene is the

03:05storm surge. But again, the wind with the trees coming down, debris flying, this is

03:09expected to be a very dangerous storm. That's why there is a mandatory

03:12evacuation order starting at noon today here in Apalachicola, Florida. Bill, I

03:18want to put this storm in perspective. Now, it does all depend on where the

03:22center comes through, but if the center goes just off to the east of

03:27Apalachicola, let's say near Mexico Beach, that building behind you, turn

03:31around and take a look at it, that'll be gone. There will be nothing left of

03:35that building because of the wind and storm surge. That's the problem. I just

03:40want everybody that lives anywhere between Panama City Beach and also

03:45Steinhatchee, where this can come through, and again, we'll zone in a little

03:48closer tomorrow. That's kind of the devastation and the destruction that

03:53we're going to see with this. I just want people to understand that as we move

03:57forward. And Bertie, we had that conversation live on the AccuWeather

04:02Network right before Hurricane Ian. You had me walk up to that building. It's

04:06even tough for us to visualize knowing the real risk with this storm, and Ian

04:10was just a tragic example here in Florida. You're telling people there is

04:13a risk that storm surge is going to wash away your house, and that sadly is

04:18what we saw happen in Fort Myers Beach, Florida. We were there one day

04:21standing next to houses high and dry when we were finally able to get back

04:25into the hardest hit areas of Fort Myers Beach. Homes like this and other

04:29buildings just washed away.

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