Category 2 Hurricane Expected to Intensify Before Hitting Florida
As Hurricane Helene approaches Florida’s Big Bend region, most ports in the state were closed on Thursday in anticipation of the storm’s arrival. Meteorologists have labeled Helene a deadly Category 3 storm, with expectations it will strengthen further before making landfall.
The National Hurricane Center has warned that the hurricane, predicted to reach Florida late Thursday or early Friday, could escalate to a Category 4 hurricane. Helene is anticipated to become “a catastrophic and deadly storm,” according to forecasters.
“The primary message is that Helene is likely to land as a large, major hurricane in Florida’s Big Bend this evening, and all preparations in the hurricane warning area should be expedited,” stated the hurricane center.
Port Tampa Bay ceased shipping and vessel traffic on Wednesday night and activated its Port Heavy Weather Advisory Group to monitor the situation. Hurricane Helene is also expected to affect the port’s cruise schedules.
In an official announcement, Port Tampa Bay emphasized its commitment to ensuring safety, protecting the environment, and maintaining the resilience of maritime commerce as the hurricane approaches.
Other ports that closed on Thursday include Canaveral, Fernandina, Jacksonville, Key West, Fort Myers, Manatee, Sarasota, Panama City, and St. Petersburg in Florida. Meanwhile, ports such as Mobile in Alabama, Pensacola in Florida, and Brunswick and Savannah in Georgia remained open but with restrictions.
According to the hurricane center, Helene is one of the largest hurricanes to emerge from the Gulf of Mexico in decades, with the potential for a 20-foot storm surge along the Big Bend. Life-threatening wind gusts are expected to affect northern Florida and southern Georgia following landfall, with the storm expected to stall over the Tennessee Valley and bring strong winds across northern Georgia and the Carolinas.
Forecasters also anticipate “catastrophic and life-threatening” flooding and numerous landslides across southern Appalachia through Friday.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency has approved Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ pre-landfall disaster declaration request, and a state of emergency has been declared for 61 counties in Florida. More than a dozen counties are under mandatory evacuation orders.
To facilitate emergency response, the Florida Department of Transportation has lifted certain requirements for truck drivers transporting emergency supplies.
Tampa International Airport suspended flights on Thursday, and numerous flights throughout Florida faced delays or cancellations, with FlightAware reporting almost 2,900 delayed and nearly 1,200 canceled nationwide.
AccuWeather meteorologists predict Helene will strengthen to a Category 4 storm before making landfall near Apalachicola, a small city with a population of about 2,300. Everstream Analytics, a supply chain risk analytics firm, also forecasted that Southeastern agriculture could be adversely affected by Helene, particularly the cotton crop, although the storm is expected to track above the citrus belt, minimizing its impact on that crop.
