If we didn’t have the tropical system, we would still have a rainy day,
The tropical system isn’t even here yet, so you can understand there’s a lot of concern here,
We’re expecting unprecedented rainfall amounts in a two- to three-day period,
It’s possible we may get to a point where our crews will not physically be able to perform rescues,
This will be one of the most significant weather events to happen in the western portions of the area in the modern era. Record flooding is forecasted and has been compared to the floods of 1916 in the Asheville area,
We are exceptionally concerned this could be catastrophic flooding,
The impacts from this event are expected to be greater than Tropical Storm Fred from August 2021, the mountains in 2004 from Frances and Ivan, and in Upstate South Carolina the Saluda River Basin flooding from 1949,
Far greater than what's typical in this part of the country,
Gusty winds will blow around unsecured objects. Tree limbs could be blown down with scattered power outages,
The impacts are going to be far beyond the eye of the storm,
I expect the water to come up and just don't want to get in the house,
Preparations to protect life and property should be rushed to completion,
Everywhere east of the center of circulation is where we typically look for a tornado risk in tropical systems,
You're not going to be able to see them until they're right on top of you,
If a tornado warning is issued in your area, make sure you take shelter in a sturdy interior room on the lowest level, away from exterior doors and windows. It's also important to review evacuation zones and routes if you live near the coast,
Tornadoes embedded in tropical rainbands can be incredibly dangerous, especially after dark,
Potentially catastrophic hurricane-force winds are expected within the eyewall of Helene when it makes landfall in the Florida Big Bend region later today. Preparations to protect life and property should be completed this morning before tropical storm conditions arrive. Damaging and life-threatening hurricane-force winds, especially in gusts, will penetrate well inland over portions of northern Florida and southern Georgia later today and tonight where Hurricane Warnings are in effect,
Two main conditions behind intensification are warm surface waters (the cyclone can extract energy from it and the warmer the water, the more energy it can extract to grow), and low wind shear (high wind shear tends to disrupt vortices, both cyclones and anticyclones),
Catastrophic and life-threatening flash and urban flooding, including numerous significant landslides, is expected across portions of the southern Appalachians through Friday. Considerable to locally catastrophic flash and urban flooding is likely for northwestern and northern Florida and the Southeast through Friday. Widespread significant river flooding and isolated major river flooding are likely,
A tropical disturbance is called a tropical depression whenever the winds are between 25 and 38 mph. When the wind speeds are between 39 and 73 mph it is classified as a tropical storm. Above 74 mph it is called a hurricane or typhoon,