Using towels to stop a storm surge -Floridians inundated by Hurricane Helene
'I swam out of my home' - Floridians reel from Helene
(about 1 hour later)
Raging waters and rescues as Hurricane Helene hits Florida
Raging waters and rescues as Hurricane Helene hits Florida
Raging waters and rescues as Hurricane Helene hits Florida
Raging waters and rescues as Hurricane Helene hits Florida
Published27 September 2024, 04:00 BST
Published27 September 2024, 04:00 BST
Florida resident Briana Gagnier and her family saw water creeping into their home on Holmes Beach. They picked up shoes and other objects on the floor and placed them on tables or beds - anywhere to get them on higher ground.
Rising waters from Hurricane Helene had forced Briana Gagnier and her family to swim out of their home on Florida’s Gulf Coast.
They even used towels to try to stanch the flow of water seeping in - something Ms Gagnier called "silly" thinking back.
Ms Gagnier, who lives in Holmes Beach north of Sarasota, had stayed behind with her family to protect their one-storey home, placing sandbags at every door and moving belongings on to tall furniture to keep them dry. They even used towels to try to stop the water from creeping in.
Then came a loud bang.
Then came a loud bang. Their garage door broke open violently - caving in to the powerful storm surge of Helene. Water quickly rose to their shoulders, forcing them to escape quickly.
"My family and I all looked at one another," the 29-year-old told the BBC. "Then water just started pouring in."
"Everyone was screaming and panicking," she told the BBC. "Whatever your worst idea of what this storm is - that is what we're seeing.”
A door to their garage broke open violently - caving way due to the floodwaters from Helene. Ms Gagnier said the flow reminded her of rapids in a river.
Ms Gagnier is one of many Floridians living along the state’s Big Bend Coast that are now reeling from the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, a powerful, deadly Category 4 hurricane that made landfall on Thursday evening, before weakening to a tropical storm as it churned inland.
The family panicked. Ms Gagnier grabbed her two dogs - Logan and Sunny - her wallet and some portable chargers. She placed her pet chinchilla in a cage and put him on top of the tallest piece of furniture she could find.
Millions of households were without electricity on Friday morning across the south-eastern US and the storm has been blamed for several deaths in the region.
The water quickly rose to their shoulders.
Streets in Georgia underwater as deadly Storm Helene rolls north: Follow Live
Streets in Georgia underwater as deadly Storm Helene rolls north: Follow Live
Streets in Georgia underwater as deadly Storm Helene rolls north: Follow Live
Streets in Georgia underwater as deadly Storm Helene rolls north: Follow Live
She and her family had to swim out of their home - which is located on a barrier island off Florida's Gulf Coast.
In some coastal areas, the storm surge was forecast to be up to 20ft (6m) - the size of a two-storey building.
"Everyone was screaming and panicking," she said. "Whatever your worst idea of what this storm is - that is what we're seeing."
At least one person was killed in Florida, authorities said, after a road sign fell on their car.
Ms Gagnier and her family ran to a neighbour's home across the street. They ended up rescuing two elderly neighbours whose house erupted into flames. She says the cause is unclear but it appears related to a golf cart battery.
Two others died in Georgia, where the storm had brought a tornado that overturned a mobile home.
Her family lives in an evacuation zone and crews had warned those staying behind that "no one is coming for us" in an emergency, she says. Looking outside, she's watched couches, chairs, a bench and even a car float by. The water was above her mailbox for part of the evening, she adds.
Footage from the aftermath of Helene shows flooded neighbourhoods and submerged cars, forcing multiple rescue operations of those who were left trapped from the storm, while locals described widespread devastation.
"I just can't believe this is real. The eye of the storm didn't even hit us straight on," said Ms Gagnier. "This island is completely devastated. Everywhere I look, devastation."
Helene has now weakened to a tropical storm as it moves more inland over Georgia, according to the US National Hurricane Center, where it is s expected to bring fierce winds and more flooding.
Briana Gagnier says the streets look like white water rapids
Briana Gagnier says the streets look like white water rapids
Briana Gagnier says the streets look like white water rapids
Briana Gagnier says the streets look like white water rapids
Anna Maria Island resident ML Ferguson told the BBC that homes and businesses were seeing water gushing into buildings as the hurricane approached.
In one rescue, a man and his dog were saved by the US Coast Guard after his 36ft sailboat started taking on water.
The streets now look like rivers, she said.
The man, whom the Coast Guard did not name, was sailing 25 miles off the coast of Sanibel Island when he was caught by the hurricane. He called Channel 16 - the emergency channel for marine radios - to summon help.
Water quickly overwhelmed the beachside bar where she works - the Bridge Tender Inn Dockside & Tiki Bar - with waves splashing the sign and chunks of seaweed clumped near tables.
On land, residents saw uncontrollable waters gushing into homes and businesses as the hurricane approached.
The storm was already battering the bar where ML Ferguson works
ML Ferguson, a resident of Anna Maria Island, told the BBC that the roads around had morphed into rivers.
The storm was already battering the bar where ML Ferguson works
When she returned to her home late on Thursday, she found it, too, had been flooded.
"Oh my gosh, it's literally up to the second step," she told the BBC in a phone interview, before quickly hanging up and rushing to stop more water from coming in.
Watch: Sailor and his dog rescued by coast guard during Hurricane Helene
Watch: Sailor and his dog rescued by coast guard during Hurricane Helene
After Ms Gagnier, the Holmes Beach resident, swam out of her home, she and her family ran across the street to a neighbour’s house, where they ended up rescuing two elderly people whose home had burst into flames.
She said the cause was unclear, but it appeared to be related to a golf cart battery.
Looking around, she said she saw couches, chairs, a bench and even a car float by. The water was above her mailbox for part of the evening, she added.
"I just can't believe this is real. The eye of the storm didn't even hit us straight on," said Ms Gagnier. "This island is completely devastated. Everywhere I look, devastation."
In Tallahassee, Florida, some residents like Cainnon Gregg had hunkered down to ride out the storm. Mr Gregg, who stayed at a friend’s shelter, said he wanted to remain close to the water to check on his oyster farm as soon as it was safe to do so.
He had spent the last few days trying to protect it by sinking it into the ocean bed. His farm was once destroyed before, during Hurricane Michael - a category five hurricane that hit the Florida panhandle in 2018 - and he said he was determined to learn from that lesson.
“Hopefully, and nothing is for certain, the farm is sitting nice and safe on the bottom,” he said ahead of the storm. “But anything could happen.”
Water was rising on ML Ferguson's porch on Thursday
Water was rising on ML Ferguson's porch on Thursday
Water was rising on ML Ferguson's porch on Thursday
Water was rising on ML Ferguson's porch on Thursday
"We are resilient," she said. "We keep an attitude of 'and this too shall pass.'"
By the time she returned to her home, water was starting to creep up her porch.
"Oh my gosh, it's literally up to the second step," she told BBC in phone interview. "My house is about the flood."
Ms Ferguson quickly moved some tables so she could put things on top of them to prevent the floodwaters from ruining belongings.
But while she spoke to BBC News a person drove down her street, causing a wake of water that splashed inside.
"The water is already coming in," she exclaimed before rushing off the phone to try to stop it.
Cainnon Gregg, an oyster farmer in Wakulla County on Florida’s Big Bend, spent the last few days trying to protect his farm by sinking it onto the ocean bed.
His farm was destroyed once before, during Hurricane Michael, a category five hurricane that hit the Florida panhandle in 2018, and Mr Gregg said he is determined to learn from that lesson.
“Hopefully, and nothing is for certain, the farm is sitting nice and safe on the bottom,” he said. “But anything could happen.”
To weather the storm, Mr Gregg plans to hunker down in his hometown of Tallahassee with a friend who has a shelter.
The city is also in the hurricane’s projected path, and it has not experienced a storm of this magnitude in recent memory.
“Right now it’s pretty much a ghost town. Everything’s closed. Everything’s boarded up.” he said.
Evacuees in a Florida emergency shelter await news
Evacuees in a Florida emergency shelter await news
Evacuees in a Florida emergency shelter await news
Evacuees in a Florida emergency shelter await news
Denise O'Connor Badalamenti has seen countless hurricanes in her decades living in Florida, but Helene has her more on edge than ever before.
"I think this is going to be the one," the 62-year-old told BBC News from her Bradenton home, which sits just a few streets from the water, as the storm moved closer to making landfall.
"I feel like we're always in the cone of possibly being targeted but then get sparred at the last minute but I don't think we're going to lucky again."
Her mother's home has flooded six times over the years and this morning water was already creeping up their driveway. Her family has taped up all the doors shut, hoping to stop any flooding.
"This one is just massive. It's scary," Ms O'Connor Badalamenti said.
Following the guidance of emergency officials, she said has stockpiled supplies and has an assortment of food ready if they lose electricity.
"We're ready for the worst."
Michael Bobbit, a clam farmer on the island of Cedar Key on Florida's Big Bend, said that some people in his community have decided to stay behind despite the warnings.
“The last several hours have really just been a frantic effort to beg people to leave,” Mr Bobbit, 48, told the BBC on Thursday, before the storm made landfall.
“Here in Florida, we sort of believe that we’ll just ride it out, it’s no big deal. But this is not one of those storms.”
He added that locals have been trying, "to sandbag as many buildings as we can", as well as board up windows and get the island's clam farms secured.
"The mood is sombre," Mr Bobbit said.
"A lot of people when they’re leaving the island are hugging each other and crying, saying ‘I hope we have a home to go back to.'"
Mickey Moore plays Monopoly with his family as they await the storm
Mickey Moore plays Monopoly with his family as they await the storm
Mickey Moore, 54, has lived in his home in Tallahassee for about 15 years and the worst he's seen coming from a hurricane was his power going out.
This one, he said, has him concerned.
His home is about 20 miles (32km) from the Gulf of Mexico - and right in the storm's path.
"A category four - it's just so big," he said, taking a break from a game of Monopoly with his two sons and his wife.
"We've been fortunate in past storms," he adds. "We don't take it for granted."
