Category 5 storm expected to bring 15ft storm surge along coast affecting Tampa, St Petersburg and Sarasota
is expected to double its wind field by the time it makes landfall in the US late Wednesday or early Thursday, with up to 15ft of storm surge along a low-lying stretch of the Florida coast that includes the cities of Tampa, St Petersburg and Sarasota.
“If you are in a single storey home that is hit by a 15ft storm surge, which means that water comes in immediately, there’s nowhere to go,” said the mayor of Tampa, Jane Castor.Deanne Criswell, the director of Fema, said at a news conference that she would travel to Florida on Wednesday – and would send more agency personnel to the state. “I want the people to hear it from me directly: Fema is ready.
Before Helene hit, residents staying behind were encouraged to write their name and social security numbers on their bodies for easier postmortem identification. Residents trying to leave have been faced with gas shortages and gridlocked roads. There are few hotels to shelter in and no flights out of the area. Ashley Khrais, a resident of Holiday, Florida, just inland from the coast, told NBC: “It seems very, very scary, but there’s no way to leave.”Mark Prompakdee, 71, a resident of a trailer park near St Petersburg, said he planned to sit the storm out in a minivan parked on higher ground at a high school. “They’re saying, ‘Get out of here,’” he said.
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