Hurricane Helene devastates Florida: Shocking before and after footage

Hurricane Helene has reached Florida. According to American media, it is one of the strongest storms to hit the state in years. One of the peninsula's residents showed the effects of Helene's arrival and the damage the hurricane caused in just three hours.

Hurricane Helene is one of the most powerful storms to hit the United States coast. The wind speed is up to 130 mph. The storm draws strength from the record warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico. According to the portal livescience.com, the hurricane has already reached Category 4 according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC). The impact on Florida was anticipated for Thursday evening or Friday morning local time (Eastern Time).

Upon landfall, Helene is expected to cause a storm surge that will raise the sea level by up to 20 feet. Florida authorities have called on people to evacuate the coast.

When you're talking about a storm surge greater than 10 feet — which we're talking about for a large portion of the Florida Big Bend region — this is a storm surge that is very difficult to survive. People should not be there. You don't have to go hundreds of miles, you just have to get out of the storm surge area, said Daniel Brown, head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Hurricane Specialist Unit, to livescience.com.

One of the users of platform X showed the effects of Hurricane Helene's passage in two videos three hours apart. In the first one, we see a flooded marina and water approaching the building where the recording's author is located. The next video shows water inundating the interior. The water reaches almost to the kitchen counters. The entire room is flooded.

According to further forecasts, Helene is expected to move through Florida and continue inland through Georgia, Tennessee, and Alabama after making landfall. Millions of people are in the danger zone, and evacuations are ongoing. As a result, airports are being closed.

Scientists remind us that hurricanes form from a layer of water that evaporates due to temperature, creating storm clouds. The warmer the ocean, the more energy the storm will have. Hurricane season lasts from June to November, with the strongest storms in the Atlantic usually occurring between August and September when the ocean temperature is highest. According to experts, climate change is causing such violent phenomena to become more frequent and more dangerous.