Tropical Storm Helene, likely to become Hurricane Helene on Wednesday and potentially a major hurricane before making landfall on Thursday, poses a SIGNIFICANT threat to Tallahassee, the surrounding areas and the entire Big Bend area. PLEASE TAKE THIS STORM SERIOUSLY AS LONG AS IT REMAINS A THREAT TO THE AREA.

As of the 11pm ET update on Tuesday, Helene is still a tropical storm with winds of 60 miles per hour. Helene is currently located about 145 miles south-southwest of the western tip of Cuba, and is moving west-northwest at 10 mph.

The goal of this thread is to provide as much storm-related information as possible within a singular location. If you have updates to provide, please post them in the comments. As my schedule permits over Wednesday and Thursday, I will do my best to keep this thread up to date, and I currently am planning for a second, updated post to be made on Wednesday night, with potentially a third post Thursday morning depending on my schedule and ability to dedicate time to this.

As always, making light of the storm, posting misinformation or troll comments will be removed, and you may receive a permanent vacation from this sub. The threat to Tallahassee at this time is very real and this is a stressful time for all. Don't be an asshole and make things worse.

STORM INFORMATION

• Please refer to the official National Hurricane Center website for Tropical Storm Helene for the most up-to-date official information on the storm.
  • The National Weather Service has an interactive map of the potential threats from Helene on their website. These are the likely worst-case scenario impacts, but should form the basis of your preparations and planning.
• Dr. Levi Cowan, FSU grad, runs TropicalTidbits, a website where he provides storm updates regularly.
• Governor DeSantis has declared a state of emergency for 61 of Florida's 67 counties ahead of the potential impacts from Helene.

As of 8pm Tuesday, Helene is currently located in the Caribbean Sea, south of the western tip of Cuba. Helene currently has maximum sustained winds of 60 mph. Helene is expected to move into the Gulf of Mexico and travel towards the Florida Big Bend or Panhandle region before making landfall on Thursday evening.

The official forecast is for Helene to continue strengthening into a major hurricane while off Florida's Gulf Coast, potentially making landfall as a major hurricane on Thursday evening. Please, get prepared for this possibility.

The official forecast cone has landfall forecast between Panama City and Cedar Key along the Florida coast on Thursday night. DO NOT USE THE FORECAST CONE AS A POINT OF REFERENCE FOR WHERE IMPACTS WILL BE FELT. The cone is simply a forecast of where the storm's center will be located; impacts can be felt far outside the cone. Helene is expected to be a large storm with tropical storm conditions possible 250-300 miles away from the center; the distance from Cedar Key to Daytona Beach on the Atlantic Coast of Florida is only ~ 125 miles.

WATCHES AND WARNINGS

Hurricane, Tropical Storm, and Storm Surge Warnings have already been issued ahead of Helene's landfall:

• Hurricane Warning: Florida Coast from the Anclote River to Mexico Beach
  • A hurricane warning means that hurricane conditions are expected somewhere within the warning area. A warning is typically issued 36 hours before the anticipated first occurrence of tropical-storm-force winds, conditions that make outside preparations difficult or dangerous. Preparations to protect life and property should be rushed to completion.
• Tropical Storm Warning: Mexico Beach to the Walton/Bay County Line
  • A Tropical Storm Warning means that tropical storm conditions are expected somewhere within the warning area within 36 hours.
• Storm Surge Warning: Indian Pass southward to Flamingo, including Tampa Bay and Charlotte Harbor.
  • A Storm Surge Warning means there is a danger of life-threatening inundation, from rising water moving inland from the coastline, during the next 36 hours in the indicated locations.
  • A Storm Surge of 10-15 feet is possible in some areas along the coast:
    • Ochlockonee River to Chassahowitzka: 10-15 feet
    • Indian Pass to Ochlockonee River: 5-10 feet

STORM PREPARATIONS

With landfall anticipated in approximately 48 hours from this post, preparations should be rushed to completion. By Wednesday night, your plans to evacuate or stay should be finalized. Conditions will deteriorate well before landfall on Thursday night, and it may be unsafe to be on the roads at all on Thursday.

The Florida Division of Emergency Management maintains a website with tons of information on planning and preparing for a storm.

• Standard preparation recommendations are to have a minimum of a 3-day supply of food, water and medication per person in case of things like power outages or trees blocking routes in/out.
  • Hurricanes Hermine and Michael, plus the tornadoes in May, took out power to parts of Tallahassee for a week or more, so keeping more than 3 days' supply may be a good idea.
• Charge your electronic devices and ration their use during and after the storm.
  • Cell towers, if undamaged, will almost certainly overload in the case of a direct or near-direct hit. Only use your devices as necessary to save on battery if your power goes out. Limit data usage when possible - use texts to communicate if possible (texts have the least impact on the networks).
  • Portable USB battery packs are great to have on hand. A 20,000 mAh battery pack will charge a phone multiple times.
• Get a NOAA weather radio, or some way to receive weather updates in the event of a power outage.
• I recommend saving the City's Outage Map to your bookmarks: https://outagemap.talgov.com/.
  • Talquin's Outage Map can be found here
  • Duke Energy's outage map can be found here
• If filling up your vehicles, please be kind, and do not constantly top off your tank. Help avoid supplies running low or out completely by only filling up if you need to. GasBuddy's app and website will likely have the ability to show stations reported to be out of fuel or power before and after the storm.
• Gather important documents and supplies - again, please do not panic buy. The Florida Division of Emergency Management has a very good list of things you should have.
  • Take pictures of your belongings before the storm, in case you need photographic evidence of any damage. Be sure to take photos of your car in case you need to file a claim after the storm.
• If you are leaving town, be sure to freeze a water bottle (or something similar) beforehand, and put something like a penny on top of the ice in the bottle before leaving. If the penny is at the bottom of the bottle when you return, get rid of all of your food as it has likely spoiled.
• Remember to have some cash on hand - no power means that most places will not have their point of sale systems running and credit cards will be useless.

Sandbags

• Sandbags are available from both the County and the City.
  • Leon County Sandbag Locations:
    • Leon County Northeast Branch Library, 5313 Thomasville Road
    • Apalachee Regional Park (Solid Waste Management Facility), 7550 Apalachee Parkway
    • Fred George Park, 3403 Capital Circle NW
    • At the intersection of Oak Ridge Road at Ranchero Road
    • Fort Braden Community Park, 15000 Blountstown Highway
  • City of Tallahassee Sandbag Locations:
    • Jack McLean Community Center (700 Paul Russell Road)
    • Mike Blankenship Skate Park, (2909 Jackson Bluff Road)
    • the Northwood parcel (1940 N. Monroe Street, near El Jalisco)

CLOSURES

WCTV maintains a closures list that is regularly updated. I would recommend referring to it in addition to this list (as it is one of the sources for this list).

Colleges/Universities

• FAMU has announced that their main campus, FAMU DRS, and the FAMU Educational Research Center for Child Development will be closed for the rest of the week. Updates will be posted to https://www.famu.edu/alerts/
  • Fall Preview, the FAMU football game and Parents and Family Weekend will be rescheduled.
• FSU has announced that their campus will be closed beginning at 7am Wednesday through Sunday. Florida High will be closed the rest of the week. Updates will be posted to https://alerts.fsu.edu/
  • The Marine Lab at Turkey Point will be closed the rest of the week.
  • FSU-Panama City will be closed Thursday and is expected to resume normal operations at 6am CT Friday.
  • Seminole Dining will be open Wednesday and the Suwannee Room will be open for breakfast from 7:30-10am on Thursday.
• TSC has canceled all classes for Wednesday through Friday. Updates will be posted to https://www.tsc.fl.edu/alerts
• Thomas University has closed the campus for Wednesday through Friday, and all in-person classes will be held online.

K-12 Schools

• Franklin County: Closed Wednesday through Friday
• Gadsden County: early release on Wednesday, closed Thursday and Friday
• Hamilton County: Closed Thursday and Friday
• Leon County: early dismissal on Wednesday, closed Thursday and Friday
• Madison County: Closed Thursday and Friday
• Suwannee County: Closed Thursday and Friday
• Taylor County: Closed Wednesday through Friday
• Wakulla County: Closed Wednesday through Friday

Local Government Offices

• Taylor County offices will be closed Wednesday through Friday
• Wakulla County offices will be closed Wednesday through Friday
• Waiting on official word from Leon County and the City of Tallahassee as of 8pm (if you see the update, please post it!)

State of Florida Offices

• Leon County offices have not announced any closures yet, but that is imminent and will be posted to the DMS Building Closures page when announced: https://www.dms.myflorida.com/business_operations/real_estate_development_and_management/bureau_of_operations_and_maintenance/building_closure_information
  • Dixie and County state offices will be closed Thursday and Friday
  • Gadsden County state offices will close at noon on Wednesday and be closed Thursday and Friday
  • Gilchrist County state offices will close at 2pm on Wednesday and be closed Thursday and Friday
  • Levy County state offices will be closed Thursday and Friday
  • Madison County state offices will be closed Thursday and Friday
  • Suwannee County state offices will be closed Thursday and Friday
  • Taylor County state offices will be closed Wednesday to Friday

EVACUATIONS

Please refer to the Division of Emergency Management's Evacuation Orders Page for the most up-to-date information on a county-by-county basis. These may change more frequently than I am able to add to/edit this list.

Franklin County:

• A mandatory evacuation for all of Franklin County is in place. This is upgraded from the mandatory evacuation originally put in place for low-lying areas and barrier islands.

Gulf County:

• A mandatory evacuation for all non-residents and RVs in Indian Pass, Cape San Blas, and Simmon Bayou must be evacuated by 8am Wednesday.

Hamilton County:

• A voluntary evacuation is in place.

Jefferson County:

• A voluntary evacuation for low-lying areas and mobile homes.

Lafayette County:

• A mandatory evacuation will go into effect on Thursday at 8am for residents in mobile homes, travel trailers, structurally compromised housing and low lying areas.

Madison County:

• A voluntary evacuation for mobile homes, substandard housing, and low-lying or flood-prone areas.

Suwannee County:

• A voluntary evacuation is in place.

Taylor County:

• A mandatory evacuation has been ordered for everyone in Taylor County.

Union County:

• A voluntary evacuation is in place.

Wakulla County

• A mandatory evacuation is in place for everyone in Wakulla County.

Shelter Information

• Leon County will be opening seven shelters beginning at 6pm Wednesday:
  • Chiles High School, 7200 Lawton Chiles Lane
  • Lincoln High School, 3838 Trojan Trail
  • Godby High School, 1717 W. Tharpe Street
  • Leon High School, 550 E. Tennessee Street
  • SAIL High School, 2006 Jackson Bluff Road
  • Fort Braden School, 15100 Blountstown Hwy
  • Fairview Middle School, 3415 Zillah Street
• Due to the mandatory evacuation for the entire county, Wakulla County will not be opening any shelters, and is coordinating with neighboring counties on options for those needing shelter.

City of Tallahassee Service Changes

Tallahassee Airport

• Not yet announced
• Delta, American and JetBlue will most likely announce waiving flight change fees soon. If you see the update, please post it in the comments!

StarMetro

• Not yet announced - if you see the update, please post it!

City Waste Service

• Not yet announced - if you see the update, please post it!

Parting Thoughts

Normally, I wouldn't try to get too doom and gloom, but the forecast for this storm and the potential for a major hurricane making a direct or nearly direct hit on Tallahassee is about a worst case scenario for the city. Please, plan appropriately, and make your decisions on evacuating or staying ASAP. I cannot stress this enough, please prepare like this will be a direct hit to Tallahassee. You really do not want to be unlucky enough for it to be a direct hit as a major hurricane and you were less than prepared.

Be prepared to be stuck inside even well after the storm passes, especially if it hits Tallahassee or close to town because the number of fallen trees will be immense. Please plan to be off the roads in town potentially through the weekend. Hang in there, y'all, and know that you can get through whatever Helene brings to town.

I will try to monitor any updates tonight and fill in some of the blanks in this thread. If you have updates and you don't see them, please feel free to post them! If you have any storm tips that I missed, please post them as well. And if there is anything that you would like to see added to the thread, please let me know! I cannot guarantee I can add everything, but I will do my best.

And as a final reminder, if you're an asshole to people on this sub during the storm, we will not hesitate to give you a one way ticket to a permanent vacation. Time and place, people.