Florida's Gulf Coast saw catastrophic Hurricane Helene make landfall last night, but forecasters warned that major rain and winds will cause flooding even hundreds of miles inland, the USA Today website reports today (Sept. 27, 2024).
Helene's winds extend up to 275 miles from its cenrter, making it a massive storm that can cause inland flooding even well after it makes landfall, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said.
Helene could be a "once--in--a--generation" storm in parts of Georgia and the Carolinas, Accu Weather Senior Director of Forecasting Operations Dan DePodwin said.
Today, rain totals of up to 18 inches are expected up through the southern Appalachian region. Major urban flooding is at risk in Tallahasee, metro Atlanta, and western North Carolina.
"Extreme rainfall rates ( that is, torrential downpour) across the mountainous terrain of the southern Appalachians will likely inundate communities in its path with flash floods, landslides and cause extensive river and stream flooding," NOAA said in a news release warning of the inland flooding risk.
Flooding has been the biggest cause of hurricane-- and tropical cyclone--related deaths in the U.S. in the last decade.
A risk of flooding extends all the way north to the southern parts of Indiana, Ohio, and across to the Washington, D.C.metro area, according to the National Weather Service.
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