The National Hurricane Center eventually downvoted it to a tropical storm in a few hours as the impact eventually weakened. Heavy rains and ferocious winds came down hard with Helene making landfall about ten miles west of Perry, Florida , at pm ET. The Hurricane Centre also estimated the maximum sustained winds at miles per hour. The resulting damage rendered about 1. But Florida wasn't alone in feeling the force of the formidable storm's natural wrath.
Despite the state of emergency declared across several US states, CBS News confirmed the fateful news that two people in Wheeler County, Georgia, succumbed to the savage hurricane. On the other hand, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis also announced in a late-night conference that at least one person's death was attributed to Helene in the Tampa area as a result of a traffic sign falling on a vehicle.
The heart-dropping scenario churned out some beyond-imagination visuals as bone-chilling and fear-inspiring videos poured out on social media. The previously streamed live footage shows the hurricane approaching the coast of Florida. The official SNS platforms of US authorities issued several caution warnings and continued urging people to stay off the roads and not drive during the hurricane. The Tampa Police Department posted numerous snaps of streets with flooding or ponding waters.
Several causeways and bridges were also closed. The wobbling camera near Howard Frankland Bridge offered a queasy view of the place struggling to stand still.
Waves of flooding water crashed over what one can assume were once roads. The clip also shows multiple cars still carelessly making their way through the perilous pathway with nothing in sight but an excessively furious storm. At the time of writing, the storm appeared to have calmed down, according to the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office's latest updates.
