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Tallahassee dodges Hurricane Helene's bullet

Posted on by Vanessa
Tallahassee dodges Hurricane Helene's bullet

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Tallahassee dodged the proverbial bullet and nearly missed the eyewall of Hurricane Helene – the storm's worst winds.

The Category 4 storm hit the Big Bend Thursday evening with a force the area has never experienced. The rain and wind left thousands without power.

Some of the hardest-hit counties — Taylor, Dixie, Suwannee, Madison — have been completely taken offline, according to a USA TODAY power outage tracker. Others, like Jefferson and Wakulla, were close behind, with almost but not all customers without power.

As of 7:41 a.m., the City of Tallahassee's power outage map reported 883 outages affecting 52,724 customers. Talquin Electric's outage map reported 17,080 outages in Leon County, affecting nearly 66% of its customers.

Here's the latest from the storm's path:

Dawn broke Friday morning over Florida's devastated and unexpected Big Bend region after Hurricane Helene hit the coast overnight.

The sharp smell of pine filled the air, an artifact of the hundreds of downed trees that lined the streets between St. Marks and Perry.

Emergency responders poured into the area, weaving around fallen trees along U.S. Highway 98 as sheriff's deputies, limiting access and patrolling for possible looting.

In the tiny community of St. Marks, about 20 miles south of Tallahassee, floodwaters had reached the front of the U.S. postal building, about a thirteenth of a mile from the St. Marks River, which flows into the Gulf a few miles downstream.

Some residents had planned to ride out the storm in their homes or aboard fishing boats moored in the marina. They could not immediately be reached Friday morning, although cell phone reception in the area was working.

TAYLOR COUNTY — Outside Perry, longtime resident Donna Parker, 80, watched her grandson use a chainsaw to cut through a fallen palm tree.

Parker has lived in her home since 1985 and has never left because of a hurricane, the name of which she can still rattle off.

“The wind was bad. But I've had worse. We've really had worse. “I once felt like my whole front yard was a lake,” she said.

“Many prayers, I tell you, when the wind comes up. But the good Lord took care of us.”

–Trevor Hughes

According to an update from the city, power restoration and road clearing began overnight.

Initial assessments show:

  • 50 roads blocked by fallen trees
  • 53,000 customers without electricity
  • Nine transmission lines, six substations and 46 circuits were down

“Emergency crews are continuing to assess the damage and carry out repairs,” the city said.

Leon County officials say the main county and city were spared the eyewall of Hurricane Helene – where the worst winds blew.

The National Weather Service and the Hurricane Center recorded winds of 140 mph in the eyewall, said Emergency Management Director Kevin Peters.

It's too early to tell the extent of damage caused by the Category 4 storm, which made landfall just 30 miles east, said Leon County Administrator Vince Long, but the number of calls to Consolidated Dispatch Agency was lower than normal nights.

“These early morning hours here are really going to tell the story for us as we move forward and really try to figure out the extent of the damage in the community,” Long said.

He said calls at night were primarily to report fallen trees or sparking power lines.

So far, crews have cleared 50 streets of downed trees and further assistance and assessment will come after sunrise, Peters said.

The emergency activation “was extensive,” Long said. “Unfortunately, we have a lot of experience with hurricanes,” he said. “There have been six since 2016.”

Both officials noted how well the community responded to the city and county's messaging efforts. A mandatory evacuation was ordered for RVs and mobile homes, and emergency shelters provided by the county housed 1,600 people, Long said.

Because the worst part of Helene lies beyond Leon County and Tallahassee, the goal is to repair the damage in Helene as quickly as possible and stay on top of future storms in the final month of hurricane season.

“Helene is done with us, but hurricane season is not over yet,” Long said.

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