Hurricane Helene accelerates toward Florida’s Big Bend threatening ‘unsurvivable’ storm surge: Live

Video and images of flooding from Hurricane Helene are starting to pour in on social media.

Storm chaser Reed Timmer captured coastal flooding that was already beginning to reach homes at Alligator Point, a coastal community near Tallahassee.

“The only thing that can save them is a shift east in track of Hurricane Helene,” Timmer wrote on X.

In Treasure Island, close to St. Petersburg, the city shared video of floodwaters submerging its streets. Pinellas County is under a storm surge and tropical storm warning, as well as a flood, tornado, and hurricane watch.

Weather there is expected to deteriorate throughout the day, with the storm bringing storm surge of four to seven feet into the evening.

And, the National Weather Service shared video of rough surf at Naples Pier, still damaged from Hurricane Ian in 2022.

Ohio Senator JD Vance has asked for payers to be sent to Florida and Georgia residents who are preparing to weather Hurricane Helene.

“Say a prayer for our friends in Florida and Georgia who are bracing for what seems to be a very bad storm,” Vance wrote on X on Thursday, sharing Florida Senator Mark Rubio’s post about deadly 20ft storm surges.

“And if you know someone in the evacuation areas noted below, please tell them (or help them) get out now!”

Some of the hardest-hit spots on Florida’s Gulf Coast, where storm surge could reach 20ft-high, could create an “unsurvivable scenario” for those remaining along the coastline, according to the National Hurricane Center’s director, Michael Brennan.

Hurricane Helene is about 255 miles southwest of Tampa, Florida, and is moving at approximately 14mph. Wind speeds have exceeded 105mph and they’re expect to continue climb near Category 4 hurricane levels by this evening.

“That speed is going to increase to over 20 miles per hour by the time Helene makes landfall later this evening,” Brennan said during a live broadcast at about 11am ET.

Tucker Carlson’s live event at the Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, South Carolina, which was set for Thursday evening has been cancelled due to Hurricane Helene.

The show, aptly named Tucker Carlson Live 2024, promised an “interesting and fun as hell” night as the former Fox News presenter was set to be joined with firebrand Republican lawmaker Marjorie Taylor Greene.

Instead of watching Carlson chat with the Georgia representative, those who purchased tickets to the Greenville leg of Carlson’s first live tour will receive a refund.

Just moments after appearing live on Fox News, Ron DeSantis said at a press conference that “nobody in recent memory has seen a storm of this magnitude,” in northern Florida.

The Florida Governor made the remarks ahead of Hurricane Helene, which is now a Category 2 storm, reaching Florida’s Gulf Coast which is expected to happen later today.

One Helene makes landfall, it is possible that it could again be upgraded to a near-Category 4 hurricane, with sustained winds in excess of 130mph, aoccrinding to the National Hurricane Center.

Floridians are currently bracing for catastrophic winds and storm surge as Hurricane Helene is forecast to make landfall along the state’s west coast on Thursday as a potential Category 4 storm.

Forecasters have warned that Helene will strike near Florida’s Big Bend region at some point this evening.

Myriam Page has more...