Meteorologists warned that Hurricane Helene was going to be a historic, “once-in-a-lifetime” event. They were right.
As AccuWeather reports, as the hurricane, now downgraded to a tropical storm, moves on and out of the Southeast, the stunning scope of widespread damage across Florida and Georgia becomes clear, and extreme rain from Helene continued to unleash catastrophic flooding in North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia over the weekend.
The storm’s death toll is at 52, and it inflicted billions of dollars in damage across a vast area of the southeastern U.S. as it swept through. Additionally, more than 3 million customers faced power outages that have yet to be resolved.
One of the most colossal storms to strike the Gulf of Mexico in the past century, Helene’s devastation is far-reaching. It unleashed unprecedented storm surges, ferocious winds and perilous conditions that extended hundreds of miles inland.
Thousands of water rescues amid catastrophic flooding
Flooding emergencies unfolded across Florida, north through Atlanta, Georgia, the Carolinas and Tennessee. Thousands of water rescues have taken place in the hours since Helene’s ferocious landfall in Florida’s Big Bend area late Thursday night.
In one of the more dramatic water rescues, dozens of patients and staff were forced onto the roof of Unicoi County Hospital in Eastern Tennessee Friday morning when turbulent floodwaters from the overflowing Nolichucky River surged around the building. Luckily, helicopters arrived to bring everyone to safety. “This is a once-in-a-lifetime storm for sure,” Michael Baker, an alderman in Erwin, Tennessee Baker, said. “This is unprecedented.”
More than 32 inches of rainfall
More than 32 inches of rain fell in Jeter Mountain, North Carolina, and nearly 30 inches was reported in Busick, North Carolina. That’s more than some parts of the country see in an entire year. Atlanta recorded 11.2 inches in 48 hours, beating out its 9.59-inch record that had stood since 1886.
Death toll continues to climb
Helene killed at least 52 people, including three firefighters, a woman and her 1-month-old twins and an 89-year-old woman whose house was struck by a falling tree. According to an Associated Press (AP) tally, the deaths occurred in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia.
More deaths were recorded in Pinellas County as of Friday morning than any other county in Florida. Five fatalities occurred in neighborhoods where evacuation orders had been issued, according to Bob Gualtieri, the sheriff of Pinellas County near St. Petersburg. He noted that some residents, who disregarded the warnings, ended up seeking refuge in their attics to escape the rising floodwaters.
“We attempted to deploy boats and high-water vehicles, but we encountered too many obstacles,” Gualtieri explained. He also mentioned that the death toll might increase as emergency teams conduct door-to-door searches in the affected areas. “I can’t think of a time Pinellas County has ever experienced the kind of surge we experienced last night,” Gualtieri said in a Friday morning news conference.
Millions without power
Several states are still dealing with major power outages after Helene. The most affected are Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, and Ohio, which together have more than 2.5 million customers without power.
At the height of outages, more than 4 million customers were without power early Friday. For hurricanes, this is the largest number since Hurricane Irma knocked out power to 7.6 million customers in 2017.
Record-Breaking Storm Surge
The National Hurricane Center estimated, based on computer modeling, that Hurricane Helene’s storm surge reached at least 15 feet near Keaton Beach, Steinhatchee and Horseshoe Beach, Florida.
The National Weather Service only has one tidal gauge in the Big Bend of Florida, at Cedar Key. That gauge reached 10.3 feet, breaking its previous record of 6.89 feet, set during Hurricane Idalia in 2023. Once a serene beach town, Cedar Key now lies in ruins, a testament to the unfathomable destruction wrought by Hurricane Helene.
Top Wind Gusts and Tornadoes
Although there weren’t many weather stations in the remote area where it made landfall, the strongest wind gust recorded during Hurricane Helene was 107 mph at the West Tampa Buoy in the Gulf of Mexico. Perry, Florida also gusted to 98 mph, with 100 mph at Alma, Georgia.
As the massive storm moved ashore Thursday night, maximum winds in the eye of Helene reached 140 mph, prompting a rare “extreme wind warning” to be issued by the National Weather Service (NWS), which urged people to treat the storm like a tornado and take shelter in a safe interior room. “THIS IS AN EXTREMELY DANGEROUS AND LIFE-THREATENING SITUATION!” the NWS said in the alert.
Hurricanes making landfall often generate tornadoes in their outer rainbands and Helene did just that. According to preliminary National Weather Service storm surveys, over a dozen tornadoes could have formed from the period prior to landfall (Sept. 25-26) through the time after landfall (Sept. 27), affecting areas from Georgia to West Virginia. Before Helene made landfall, a tornado in Wheeler County, southeast Georgia, demolished a mobile home, resulting in two deaths. One of the most destructive tornadoes hit Rocky Mount, North Carolina, on Sept. 27, damaging around 11 buildings and injuring 15 people.
Full Extent of the Damage has yet to be Revealed
According to Bob Gualtieri, the sheriff of Pinellas County near St. Petersburg, several fatalities occurred in neighborhoods where evacuation orders had been issued. Some residents, who disregarded the warnings, ended up seeking refuge in their attics to escape the rising floodwaters.
The full extent of damage has yet to be revealed in hard-to-reach locations. Western North Carolina was essentially cut off because of landslides and flooding that closed Interstate 40 and other roads.
As of Saturday morning, NCDOT said 400 roads were closed. In many cases, roads and bridges that got washed out also damaged water, gas, and communications lines. This could take weeks to fix and leave relief organizations unable to reach the areas where help is most needed. In many cases, people have been unable to reach loved ones because of downed cell phone towers.
Damage and Economic Loss from Hurricane Helene
AccuWeather preliminarily estimates the total damage and economic loss from Hurricane Helene will be between $95 billion and $110 billion. Helene is expected to be one of the costliest storms in U.S. history because of the devastating storm surge, damaging winds and historic flooding.
In particular, the widespread storm surge impacts along the populated west coast of Florida, such as Tampa Bay, as well as the historic, catastrophic flooding disaster in the Appalachians are significant contributing factors to the estimate.
This is a preliminary estimate, as the storm’s effects are continuing to be felt, and some areas have not yet reported complete information about damage, injuries, and other impacts.
Long and Overwhelming Road to Recovery
“Over the last couple of days, we’ve been able to offer safe shelter. We had thousands last night in shelters across several states,” Tracy Fox, National Spokesperson for the American Red Cross, told AccuWeather during an interview on Friday. “Our top priority right now is ensuring that everyone has a safe place, they have a safe shelter, whether it’s for the day to cool off, charge their phones, get something to eat and then we’re also out on the front lines.”
While the worst of Helene is over, the extensive cleanup and recovery process is just beginning, with the Red Cross and many other organizations coming together to help those in need.
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Photo Credit: NASA images / Shutterstock.com