Hurricane Helene made landfall on the west coast of the U.S. state of Florida, the US National Hurricane Center said on Thursday evening, with officials talking of at least one fatality.
Shortly before making landfall, the National Hurricane Center classified it as an “extremely dangerous Category 4 hurricane” at 6:20 pm (2220 GMT).
“Hurricane Helene is currently making landfall in Taylor County in the Big Bend section of Florida,” Governor Ron DeSantis said in a press briefing.
“It is a category 4 storm with maximum sustained winds of 140 miles per hour (225 kilometres per hour) and it’s moving north-north-east at 24 miles per hour.”
“We have had a report of a fatality on the roadway” in the area of Tampa, DeSantis said. “You need to be, right now, hunkering down.”
The governor said that emergency crews did not know yet the extent of the damage due to the time of day. “We’re not getting a full picture yet.”
“When Floridians wake up tomorrow morning, we’re going to be waking up to a state where very likely there’s been additional loss of life. And certainly, there’s going to be loss of property,” DeSantis said.
The US Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) had issued urgent warnings about the storm, which was expected to hit several U.S. states.
Storm surges of up to 6 metres were expected along the Gulf of Mexico coast, said FEMA administrator Deanne Criswell.
The entire west coast of Florida and the Big Bend region in the state’s north were particularly affected.
According to data from the Poweroutage.us website, around 975,000 households in Florida were without electricity by Thursday evening.
Tropical cyclones form over warm ocean waters. Experts say global warming increases the probability of severe storms.
The hurricane season begins in the Pacific on May 15 and in the Atlantic on June 1.
The season ends in both regions on Nov. 30.
