Fresh Take Florida
Hurricane Helene strengthened to a highly dangerous Category 4 storm with 130 mph winds Thursday evening as it marched up the Gulf of Mexico just hours before it was expected to make landfall with a punch to Florida’s rural Big Bend region.
Massive in size — with tropical storm-size winds extending 310 miles from its center — the hurricane was expected to drown some rural, coastal communities with a towering surge of up to 20 feet of seawater, plus torrential rains and destructive winds. The governor warned of hurricane-force winds 50 miles from the eye of the hurricane.
In tiny Taylor County along the Panhandle’s Gulf coast, where authorities had told all 22,000 residents to evacuate, officials grimly recommended that anyone staying behind should write their name, date of birth and relative’s name on their forearm in permanent ink so their bodies could be identified.
“There’s a very real possibility this storm will make landfall in Taylor County, Gov. Ron DeSantis said. “Along the coast there, you’re looking at some pretty significant storm surge.” He added, “If you do hunker down, I don’t think you’re going to have the local Sheriff’s department, I don’t think you’re going to see state resources brought to bear for the rescue until it’s safe.”
The hurricane was the most powerful to hit Florida in two years, since Hurricane Ian killed 150 people and left 1 million without power in the state in September 2022. Helene would be the third hurricane to strike communities in the Big Bend in just 13 months, following Idalia last year and Debby in August. The area between the Panhandle and the state’s peninsula is among Florida’s least densely populated, home to scores of small towns along the coast.
By Thursday evening, Helene had strengthened as expected to a Category 4 hurricane with 130 mph winds. DeSantis’ emergency management chief, Kevin Guthrie, called the storm surge expected in the rural Big Bend region life-threatening: “You cannot survive that.”
At least 20 counties issued partial or total mandatory evacuations, urging thousands to leave their houses or trailers and seek higher ground inland. More than 832,000 people live in the Big Bend and nearby counties where Helene was expected to hit hardest as a major hurricane. Three Big Bend counties — Franklin, Taylor and Wakulla — ordered all residents to leave. Other counties urged anyone to flee low-lying areas, trailers, RVs, nursing homes or older houses.
By Thursday evening — even as the Governor told residents they still had time to evacuate — Guthrie moments later said the window for Big Bend residents to leave had closed.
“In these Big Bend areas, you still have time,” DeSantis said.
Minutes later, at the same briefing, Guthrie said: “If you have not already left, you are probably going to need to start look at sheltering. Stay inside, stay safe, stay put, do not attempt to leave your home or drive during the storm.”
In the town of Perry in Taylor County, Cathleen Curtis, 45, crammed her minihorse Rip and two horses, Brady and Lorenzo, into a two-horse trailer and headed to a friend’s place in Ocala once she heard Hurricane Helene was larger than Category 1.
“We shoved (Rip) in the tack compartment and put a fan on him and wished him luck for the two hour trip,” she said. “But he did fine, it was safe enough.”
Hurricane Idalia previously damaged the siding and roof of Curtis’ home, causing a six-month battle with her insurance providers to get it replaced. Her new roof and siding was finished about one month ago.
“Insurance doesn’t pay the full value of replacement for things that are damaged,” she said. “We’ve had a lot of big losses to the community, and to have another one like this — it’s a gut punch.”
DeSantis and Guthrie warned residents staying home that state and local efforts likely would not be able to help until morning, given the storm’s expected landfall of 11 p.m.
Jim Hooten, 50, chose not to evacuate from his home in Taylor County ahead of Helene. Hooten, who runs a local tree removal service in Steinhatchee, said he collected his equipment and planned to ride out the storm. After Hurricane Helene blows through, Hooten said, he worries there won’t be anything left of his home.
“I sent my youngins to Alachua County to ride it out,” Hooten said. “My entire life’s work is in this equipment, so I don’t have the option of running.”
Each time a hurricane hits the Big Bend, Hooten joins local efforts to repair damages in his community. With Helene on the horizon, airboats and outriggers stood ready to be deployed to help stranded residents after the storm. Taylor County residents, especially those without insurance, have suffered damages and price-gouging in the last year after being hit by multiple hurricanes, Hooten said.
“When I get done with this storm work, I ought to be rich,” Hooten said. “But I end up being broke.”
About 70 miles south, the historic fishing town of Cedar Key, which also suffered a fire that destroyed popular seafood restaurants along Dock Street last week, started to flood by the afternoon, waves crashing over the road. The town was closed and officials turned off residents’ water Thursday morning, said Cedar Key resident Kegan Ward.
“It’s still pretty sunny, it’s a little windy,” she said. “We’re just kind of hanging out, hunkering down.”
Rebecca Johnston, 47, lived there until last year, and still owns property that recent storms have left untouched.
“It’s closed today, but it will be up and running very quickly,” she said. “They fix it themselves, they work together as a community and they put themselves back together.”
As Helene passed off shore of Tampa, authorities closed Gandy Bridge and the Courtney Campbell Causeway after waves crashed over the roads. The Florida Highway Patrol closed the towering Sunshine Skyway Bridge and Howard Frankland Bridge due to dangerous winds. A row of patrol cruisers with their blue lights activated and highway worker trucks blocked the roads at both ends of the Skyway Bridge, while seawater sloshed over the barriers of the Howard Frankland.
Earlier in the day, the Tin City retail district of Naples in southwest Florida flooded as Helene moved north along the Gulf coast, still hundreds of miles off shore. It drove seawater into Naples Bay until it surged over seawalls into streets and back yards. The Big Marco River crested over its banks.
Crashing ocean waves driven by powerful winds in Key West broke over the seawall and sprayed the famous tourist plaza that marks the southernmost point in the United States. A few plucky people tried to pose for photos near the brightly painted buoy as they were drenched in salt water.
Further inland up north in the Panhandle, Tallahassee braced for significant damage. Waffle House restaurants in the city closed, always an ominous sign during bad weather. Eglin Air Force Base in the Panhandle moved cargo planes and fighter jets inside hangars to protect them from winds.
For Temika Smith, 42, staying in the Lake Jackson area seemed fine given her home was left unscathed by previous storms. As a Tallahassee resident for over 24 years, she barely had to prep, either — her house was already stocked with nonperishable food items from weathering older hurricanes.
“The area I live in … I really haven’t had any issues with it,” she said. “So it wasn’t like, ‘Hey, you need to go.’”
Colleges across the state, including Florida State University, the University of Florida and University of South Florida canceled classes and closed campuses until Monday.
Forecasters issued more than a dozen tornado warnings along Florida’s Gulf Coast overnight and early Thursday.
Collier County in southwest Florida, which did not issue a mandatory evacuation, saw roads flood from storm surge early Thursday.
Over 1,300 residents hunkered down in six open shelters across Pinellas County as the storm surge began to flood roads midday Thursday. With up to 8 feet of expected flooding, Pinellas County issued a mandatory evacuation for coastal zones as well as everyone in mobile homes.
DeSantis and Guthrie, Executive Director of the Division of Emergency Management, warned those staying home for Helene not to drive during the storm and said they should keep generators outside and head to an interior room if they hear trees around them breaking.
“If you hear trees snapping around your home, treat it like a tornado,” Guthrie said. “Act immediately.”
Airports, including Tampa International, St. Pete-Clearwater International and Tallahassee International Airport closed. Gainesville Regional Airport said it would shut down by 8 p.m., just ahead of the storm’s landfall.
In the state’s Emergency Operations Center in Tallahassee, the governor noted Thursday was his 15th wedding anniversary. He told his wife, Casey, he loved her and that he never expected to spend their anniversary in the emergency center.
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This story was produced by Fresh Take Florida, a news service of the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications. The reporters can be reached at [email protected] and [email protected]. You can donate to support our students here.
