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Of Florida’s 67 counties, 61 are under a state of emergency declared by state governor Ron DeSantis.
Florida towns on the Gulf Coast are under a state of emergency Tuesday and are busy preparing for the expected arrival of Hurricane Helene , which is expected to hit the southern state as a major hurricane on Thursday.
Of the 67 counties in Florida, 61 are under a state of emergency declared by state governor Ron DeSantis, who in a press conference urged the population to take the necessary precautions and to evacuate those living in risk areas.
“We’re going to see significant impacts no matter what,” DeSantis warned of a cyclone that will bring strong winds and rainfall, as well as generate a dangerous storm surge that will impact towns on the Gulf Coast with a sea level rise of up to 4.5 meters.
School classes suspended
In Hillsborough, Pinellas and Easter counties , to name a few, school classes have been suspended on Wednesday and Thursday due to Tropical Storm Helene , which on Tuesday has maximum sustained winds of 75 kilometers per hour.
The US National Hurricane Center (NHC) has warned, however, that Helene will experience rapid and “continuous” strengthening, and is forecast to become a Category 3 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale (out of a maximum of five) within 48 hours, precisely when it is about to make landfall in Florida.
Ninth cyclone of the season
Helene, the ninth tropical cyclone of the current Atlantic hurricane season and the eighth named, is located about 280 kilometers south of the western tip of Cuba on Tuesday afternoon and is expected to move over the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday , which will fuel its intensification.
Governor DeSantis confirmed that up to 3,000 members of the Florida National Guard are ready to assist in areas affected by Helene, which is expected to be a major hurricane and will impact much of the state.
Local media showed images of residents collecting sandbags and reporting people beginning to evacuate.
Tampa General Hospital has erected a barrier up to 10 feet high to protect against flooding, ABC reported.
Helene could make landfall in northwest Florida
According to NHC predictions, the system could make landfall in northwest Florida, in the area known as Big Bend, precisely where Hurricane Debby, a Category 1 hurricane, made landfall last August .
In that same region, in August of last year, the powerful Category 3 Hurricane Idalia, which strengthened considerably over the waters of the Gulf of Mexico in about 24 hours, made landfall and generated historic flooding that reached the city of Tampa.
If it becomes a hurricane, Helene will be the fifth to form in the current season in the Atlantic , which is expected to have above-average activity, and the fourth to make landfall in the United States, if it hits Florida as expected. EFE
