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Helene's impacts begin arriving in Apalachicola
AccuWeather
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9/27/2024
AccuWeather's Bill Wadell reported live from Apalachicola, Florida, where some people who had planned to ride out Hurricane Helene changed their minds and evacuated in the hours before the storm's arrival.
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00:00
Bill is in Apalachicola, Florida right now, and Bill, impacts starting to ramp up.
00:06
We do believe that the eyewall will pass to your west.
00:09
Now that's important for Apalachicola.
00:11
You are not going to be in the right front quadrant, there will be a damaging storm surge,
00:15
but it is not going to be as bad as it will be farther east in Apalachia Bay.
00:21
Mr. Flynn, is uh...
00:23
Yeah, and I can tell you, Bernie, with that forecast update, a lot of people are breathing
00:27
a sigh of relief, but we know we're still going to be dealing with some big-time impacts
00:31
here in Apalachicola.
00:32
This is what some of the businesses look like.
00:34
The windows are boarded up, and when it comes to the doors, they've got it tarped, they've
00:38
got the sandbags, they've got tape.
00:40
What they're concerned about is that threat of 10 to 15 feet of storm surge right here
00:44
across the street from Apalachicola Bay.
00:47
That's what they are worried about with this storm.
00:49
And a lot of people did pack up and leave today.
00:52
Some people did not follow that mandatory evacuation order until later today, and they
00:56
decided to get out.
00:58
Now, take a look at the conditions that we saw earlier today, this morning.
01:02
This was around high tide, water spilling out of the bay and onto a few low-lying streets.
01:08
This is just a preview of some of the impacts that we're expecting to see here tonight.
01:13
Hurricane Helene will be pushing inland as the tide is rising.
01:16
High tide is at 3 this morning here in Apalachicola.
01:21
Some businesses have boarded up and put up the sandbags to try and block any floodwaters
01:25
from getting inside, but others did not board up.
01:28
We can tell you virtually every single business here in Apalachicola is shut down and locked
01:33
up tight.
01:34
Lyle Croft, the owner of Go Fish, says he had his boards cut years ago, but this is
01:40
the first time he's ever had to use them.
01:44
We've got water-absorbing snakes inside the doors, and then we use this Flex Seal tape
01:50
on the joints between the wall and the floor in case anything blows underneath here.
01:56
And it seemed to stick pretty well, so I'm a little nervous.
02:03
Yeah, understandably, Lyle is nervous for himself, for his neighbors.
02:08
He is leaving town, but there are some people who did stay here despite the mandatory evacuation,
02:14
and we did speak with the Franklin County Sheriff's Office.
02:17
They are concerned.
02:19
At last check, there were still some holdouts in very vulnerable areas who told deputies
02:23
that they were going to be staying behind.
02:26
We do know that the Sheriff's Office posted a number earlier today letting people know
02:29
at least a few hours ago, if you change your mind, if you're in a high-risk area or a barrier
02:34
island, call deputies.
02:35
They'll help you get out.
02:36
But again, conditions are going to go downhill fast.
02:39
We're losing daylight, so the situation is going to be getting much worse.
02:41
All right, thanks for the update, Bill Waddell in Apalachicola.
02:46
We'll take you to Cedar Key.
02:48
Now Cedar Key is going to be in that life-threatening storm surge, and yeah, that's what Cedar
02:53
Key looks like right now, and it's going to get far worse.
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