Hurricane Helene Flooding Likely To Effect More Than Just Florida

As a long time Florida resident that has been through many of these storms, I am in awe of the size of Hurricane Helene. All of Florida will feel the effects of this storm, but some of the worst Hurricane Helene flooding is likely to be along the Tennessee/Georgia border. The storm is forecasted to stall near Chattanooga when it merges with another front, and then spend Friday night, the entire day on Saturday, and then into Sunday parked on top of them. Dumping inch after inch of rain.

Since we're a Florida based radio station, let's start in our area. The entire state is projected to get at least an inch or more of rain. I don't think I've ever seen that before. West Coast areas will get more, and wherever exactly the hurricane makes landfall will likely see in the neighborhood of 10 inches. But also, look at that area in the red north of Atlanta, that's where the storm will likely stall.

The Hurricane Helene flooding will also be greatly effected by the amount of surge to hit the coast. 3-5 feet of surge in Southwest Florida, 4-8 feet in the Tampa area, then 12 feet or more of surge from the Hernando County area over to Indian Pass. Even coastal Georgia and South Carolina are included. Here's the full breakdown:

Carrabelle, FL to Chassahowitzka, FL...12-18 ft
Apalachicola, FL to Carrabelle, FL...8-12 ft
Chassahowitzka, FL to Anclote River, FL...8-12 ft
Indian Pass, FL to Apalachicola, FL...6-9 ft
Anclote River, FL to Middle of Longboat Key, FL...5-8 ft
Tampa Bay...5-8 ft
Middle of Longboat Key, FL to Englewood, FL...4-7 ft
Englewood, FL to Flamingo, FL...3-5 ft
Charlotte Harbor...3-5 ft
Mexico Beach, FL to Indian Pass, FL...2-4 ft
Flagler/Volusia County Line, FL to South Santee River, SC...1-3 ft
Dry Tortugas...1-3 ft
Florida Keys...1-3 ft

Advanced models from the National Hurricane Center show a surge of greater than 9 feet off the ground in the area of impact. Remember, it wasn't rain or wind that destroyed Fort Myers Beach - it was the surge. Back to the long term forecast, watch how the storm stalls out over land.

As Helene makes her way up north, she'll interact with another front that's coming across the country. causing the storm to stall. Wednesday morning projections have areas, that are actually in need of some rain, getting up to 10 inches. Florida is built for that kind of deluge, these areas are not. Flooding is likely.

Although Helene will have lost her hurricane status by then, Hurricane Helene flooding is going to bring a lot of rain to a large part of the Southeastern United States. Atlanta will likely see more rain than those of us in Southwest Florida, but we will definitely get our share. Stay safe everyone, and if you're told to evacuate - get out. Storm surge is nothing to play with.