Last-minute preparations continue in Tallahassee ahead of Hurricane Helene's arrival
TALLAHASSEE - Ahead of Hurricane Helene's arrival, last-minute preparations were taking place Wednesday in Tallahassee, where some gas stations had started to run out of gas.
Some people were busy picking up sandbags at distribution centers and boarding up to secure their properties.
Kameron Benjamin, 19, a Florida A&M student, filled sandbags with his roommate to protect their apartment before evacuating. Their school and Florida State shut down.
"This hurricane is heading straight to Tallahassee, so I really don't know what to expect," Benjamin said.
As Big Bend residents battened down their homes, many saw the ghost of 2018's Hurricane Michael. That storm rapidly intensified and crashed ashore as a Category 5 that laid waste to Panama City and parts of the rural Panhandle.
"People are taking heed and hightailing it out of there for higher ground," said Kristin Korinko, a Tallahassee resident who serves as the commodore of the Shell Point Sailboard Club, on the Gulf Coast about 30 miles (48 kilometers) south of Tallahassee.
In Crawfordville, Florida, Will Glenn spent most of Wednesday boarding up his windows and gathering family mementos before evacuating. "This could be it," he said.
For toughened Floridians who are used to hurricanes, Robbie Berg, a national warning coordinator for the hurricane center, advised: "Please do not compare it to other storms you may have experienced over the past year or two."
With tropical storm-force winds extending up to 345 miles (555 kilometers) from its center, Helene is forecast to be one of the largest storms in breadth in seven years to hit the Gulf of Mexico region, according to Colorado State University hurricane researcher Phil Klotzbach.
He said since 1988, only three Gulf of Mexico hurricanes have been bigger than Helene is forecasted to get: 2017's Irma, 2005's Wilma and 1995's Opal.
"By every measure, this makes it worse," said University of Miami senior hurricane researcher Brian McNoldy. "Places that are not used to experiencing hurricanes are going to experience one.''
Areas 100 miles north of the Georgia-Florida line can expect hurricane conditions. Nearly half of Georgia's public school districts, from the top to the bottom of the state, have canceled class because of the approaching storm.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis warned that Helene could be as strong as a Category 4 hurricane when it makes landfall late Thursday and quickly plows through the Tallahassee area.
The state was providing buses to evacuate people in the state's Big Bend region and taking them to shelters in Tallahassee.
But near Florida's center, outside Orlando, Walt Disney World said its only closures Thursday would be the Typhoon Lagoon water park and its miniature golf courses.
Helene is the eighth named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, which began June 1. Since 2000, eight major hurricanes have made landfall in Florida, said Klotzbach.
