Remembering Hurricane Helene: One Year Later
HURRICANE HELENE - Helene made landfall Thursday, September 26, 2024, as a powerful category 4 hurricane with sustained winds of 140 mph and pressure of 939 MB. Helene's eyewall passed about 10 miles west-southwest of Perry, Florida at 11:10 p.m. ET on Florida's Gulf Coast. In the 2024 Atlantic Hurricane Season, Helene was one of five landfalling storms along the Gulf coast, including three in Florida.
The remnants of Helene brought catastrophic flooding, which prompted a record 34 Flash Flood Emergencies across portions of Appalachia and Mid-South. Including the first ever for the city of Atlanta, GA after 11" of rain. The highest total from the storm topped out above 30" in North Carolina. A precursor event saturated the soils ahead of Helene. The USGS documented that the heavy rain on top of the impacted soils prompted more than 2000 landslides. 63 stream and river gauges exceeded their record flood levels during Helene. 2,700+ water rescues were documented, about half from storm surge and half from fresh water flooding.
According to poweroutage.us, a total of 7.4 million customers lost power at some point during Helene. Below, you can see the counties impacted at the height of the storm.
According to the National Hurricane Center Storm Surge Unit, preliminary post-landfall storm surge heights for the Big Bend region of Florida near Keaton Beach, Steinhatchee, and Horseshoe Beach had water levels reach more than 15 feet above ground level.
Even places like Tampa, Florida saw storm surge rise to nearly 8 feet. St. Petersburg, FL set a storm surge record of 6.31ft.
The aftermath of Hurricane Helene has unfortunately left scenes of devastation from Florida's Big Bend, the southeast, and Appalachia. 250 lives were lost during Helene. 176 were attributed to direct meteorological impacts. The other indirect fatalities were from medical issues, heart attacks, car accidents and incidents during post-storm cleanup.
Hurricane Helene cause $78.7 billion dollars in damage, making it the 7th costliest hurricane in U.S. history.
