Devastation pictures show beloved gulf island 'completely gone' after Hurricane Helene roared through

A tiny gulf land that is simply a fashionable tourer attraction has been near decimated aft Hurricane Helene slammed Florida. 

Cedar Key was blasted by the powerfulness of the Category 4 hurricane arsenic it deed the tiny land which sits little than 10 feet supra oversea level successful Levy County. 

The tempest made landfall connected Thursday and brought with it a tempest surge that reportedly deed 4 feet connected the tiny land successful the Gulf of Mexico. 

As the residents that stayed connected the land woke connected Friday morning, they discovered the land had been stripped bare by the winds, with debris littering the streets.  

Michael Bobbitt, 48, was 1 of those who decided to enactment behind, helium said: 'We're feeling beauteous gut-punched present successful Cedar Key. When we were warring this successful the night, nevertheless atrocious we thought it would be, it's overmuch worse successful the airy of day.'

Despite orders to evacuate, Bobbitt said helium stayed enactment to assistance retired those who could not permission with his rescue vessel and to papers the storm. 

He added: 'All of those radical that near are hopeless to perceive astir their homes. I'm delivering the astir devastating quality that they person ever got successful their lives.'

There person been nary reports of deaths oregon injury successful the area, oregon different coastal parts of the county. 

Lt. Scott Tummond told The New York Times: 'That's conscionable a existent blessing', but added that workers would proceed to beryllium successful rescue mode. 

Recovery mode, according to the Lieutenant, would commencement aft they marque definite the information of those who request assistance is complete.

Bobbitt besides told the outlet: 'Cedar Key arsenic we cognize it is wholly gone. Entire houses person been picked up and moved away. 

'We had to spell done 4 feet of h2o to get to them. The station bureau is destroyed.

'Several restaurants are destroyed. The Jiffy Food Store is destroyed. Vehicles are smashed successful and turned upside down. Everything is impassable. It looks similar a atomic weaponry went off.'

Bobbitt said Helen was the astir convulsive unit helium had ever experienced, adjacent uncovering it hard to explicate however almighty it was. 

He expects the betterment of the tiny assemblage and the land arsenic a full to instrumentality years, adding: 'I expect determination to beryllium a wide exodus. There volition beryllium nary services present for months. There’s nary stores. No restaurants. It’s over.'

The tempest left a devastating way of demolition crossed Florida and the full southeastern US, sidesplitting astatine slightest 40 radical successful 4 states. 

The tempest has since been downgraded to a tropical slump and is located astir 125 miles southeast of Louisville, Kentucky, connected Friday afternoon. 

According to the National Hurricane Center its sustained winds had dropped to 30 mph, aft antecedently signaling maximum sustained winds of 140 mph. 

At slightest 15 radical person died successful Georgia, a further 8 successful Florida, and a reported seventeen died successful South Carolina. 

One idiosyncratic died successful Florida by a falling tree, portion different was struck by a motion connected Interstate 4 successful Tampa. 

In South Carolina 2 firefighters died aft responding to calls, portion 2 different deaths were enactment down to fallen trees. 

In neighboring North Carolina 4 radical were critically injured and galore others sustained insignificant injuries aft a tornado touched down successful Rocky Mount. 

Kentucky Governor Beshear meantime issued a connection saying that 4 counties were present nether a authorities of exigency connected Friday afternoon. 

He urged citizens to enactment harmless and said the authorities was seeing wide powerfulness outages. Around 4.4 cardinal Americans were without powerfulness connected Friday afternoon. 

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp said dozens of radical were inactive trapped successful buildings damaged by the Category 4 hurricane. 

In Tennessee, patients and caregivers sought structure connected the extortion of the Unicoi County Hospital adjacent the borderline with North Carolina aft it flooded. 

The installation was flooded connected Friday greeting aft the adjacent Nolichucky River burst its banks and flooded the facility. 

Due to the treacherous conditions, boats were sent by the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency and everyone was forced onto the roof. 

After failed attempts by helicopters to onshore safely connected the gathering owed to the precocious winds, a authorities constabulary chopper managed to onshore and hoist those stranded to safety. 

Senator Bill Hagerty confirmed conscionable aft 4pm EST that everyone had been rescued from the roof.  

The harm extended hundreds of miles to the north, with flooding arsenic acold distant arsenic North Carolina, wherever a water utilized successful the movie "Dirty Dancing" overtopped a dam. 

Multiple hospitals successful confederate Georgia were without power, and 1 successful Tennessee was closed. 

Airports successful Florida that closed owed to the hurricane were reopened Friday. That included airports successful Tampa, St. Petersburg, Lakeland and Tallahassee.

At Tampa International Airport determination had been 130 formation cancellations successful the past 24 hours, arsenic of Friday afternoon, according to FlightAware.

Airports successful Atlanta and Charlotte, North Carolina, remained unfastened Friday but were reporting ample numbers of cancellations and dense delays. 

By 2 p.m., astir 400 flights to oregon from Charlotte had been canceled. Nearly 580 more, to oregon from Charlotte, were delayed.

At the larger Atlanta airport, 175 flights were canceled and much than 500 were delayed.