Dark memories of "Ian" Extremely dangerous hurricane "Helene" makes landfall in Florida
As the second-highest category hurricane, "Helene" makes landfall. US disaster control warns of meter-high storm surges. This brings back dark memories for many people in the south-east of the USA.
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- Hurricane "Helene" has made landfall on the west coast of the US state of Florida.
- With sustained wind speeds of up to 225 kilometers per hour, the center of the storm was located in the Big Bend region in northern Florida.
- The US Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) had issued an urgent warning that the storm would hit several states.
- Storm surges of up to six meters are expected on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico.
Hurricane "Helene" has made landfall on the west coast of the US state of Florida. This was announced by the US National Hurricane Center in the evening (local time). Shortly beforehand, it had already classified the hurricane as an "extremely dangerous hurricane" of the second-highest category 4. With sustained wind speeds of up to 225 kilometers per hour, the center of the storm was located in the Big Bend region in northern Florida.
The US Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) had issued an urgent warning that the storm would affect several states. Storm surges of up to six meters are expected on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, said Fema boss Deanne Criswell. The entire west coast of Florida and the Big Bend region are particularly affected. According to data from the website Poweroutage.us, around 975,000 households in Florida were already without power in the evening.
In the past few days, "Helene" had already caused numerous floods and power outages in Cuba. Heavy flooding cut off several towns on the Caribbean island from the outside world.
Dark memories of destructive hurricane "Ian"
The arrival of "Helene" is likely to bring back dark memories for many people in Florida. Two years ago, Hurricane Ian caused enormous damage there, killing more than 100 people. Back then, the center of the storm passed over densely populated areas in the southwest of the state and swept over coastal towns with wind speeds of around 240 kilometers per hour.
Tropical cyclones form over warm ocean waters. According to experts, increasing global warming is increasing the likelihood of strong storms. The hurricane season begins in the Atlantic on June 1 and lasts until November 30.
dpa