Tragic first death as Hurricane Helene's 'catastrophic' fury brings sign down on car

Hurricane Helene is present a Category 4 tempest with 130mph winds and immense flood swells present battering the Big Bend portion of Florida, wherever 1 idiosyncratic has already mislaid their life

Hurricane Helene claimed its archetypal unfortunate connected Thursday nighttime aft a motion toppled by the storm's fierce winds crushed a car successful Tampa, Florida, resulting successful the driver's death. Shortly earlier it made landfall, it was upgraded to a Category 4 hurricane with an estimated upwind velocity of 130mph.

The Florida Highway Patrol has yet to corroborate the full fig of fatalities caused by the fallen sign, referring to the lawsuit lone arsenic a "deadly crash." Traffic cameras captured the grim country showing the ample road motion resting atop a conveyance connected the I-4.

With Hurricane Helene approaching, Florida authorities are urging locals to debar travelling connected the roads. However, images circulating connected societal media person shown motorists attempting bridges portion upwind and water is whipped astir them by the tempest winds, arsenic 1 operator is present confirmed dead.

As Hurricane Helene's oculus partition makes landfall successful Florida's Big Bend area, the National Weather Service has issued an alert, reports the Mirror US. The storm, present a Category 4 hurricane, has placed 40 cardinal Americans nether urgent informing owed to its strength.

Warnings of an 'unsurvivable' tempest surge and catastrophic 130mph winds from Hurricane Helene person been issued, forecasting wide devastation.

The US National Hurricane Center warns that Hurricane Helene is an unusually expansive storm, with effects apt to beryllium felt good beyond Florida's borders. Heavy rainfall began adjacent the Florida-Georgia enactment soon aft 7pm section time, with implicit a twelve Georgia counties bracing for winds reaching up to 110 mph.

With "catastrophic winds" expected imminently, the Category 4 hurricane is acceptable to wreak havoc successful the region, the halfway has warned.

"This is an highly unsafe and life-threatening situation," warned the hurricane center. "Persons should not permission their shelters and stay successful spot done the transition of these life-threatening conditions."

The centre cautioned that erstwhile the storm's oculus hits land, determination volition beryllium a impermanent calm earlier the different broadside of the oculus brings hazardous winds again. As of 3am GMT, the tempest was located 65 miles southbound of Tallahassee, Florida, with sustained winds of 140 mph.

Severe flooding is anticipated crossed overmuch of the southeast region, extending to North Carolina arsenic the tempest moves inland. Some areas, including Tallahassee, metro Atlanta and occidental North Carolina, are expected to person up to 18 inches of rainfall, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Over 500,000 homes and businesses successful Florida were without powerfulness earlier the tempest adjacent made landfall, with wide flooding and precocious winds destroying infrastructure.

Most powerfulness cuts were on the state's westbound coast, wherever Hurricane Helene was nearing. Major vigor providers Duke Energy and Florida Power and Light Company reported implicit 150,000 outages each.

Airports successful the vicinity of the storm's landfall, including Tampa, Clearwater, and Tallahassee, person halted flights, with Orlando International Airport being a notable objection contempt 65 cancellations connected Thursday. Tornado warnings broad overmuch of Florida and southeastern Georgia, anticipated to past until aboriginal Friday morning.

The upwind whitethorn wreak havoc connected structures, but it's the tempest surge that poses the top information from Helene.

"The starring origin of decease from hurricanes is water, not wind," Craig Fugate, ex-chief of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, has warned.