43 Dead Due to Storm “Helene” Causing Widespread Destruction in Florida and Georgia
The tropical storm “Helene” has killed at least 43 people, flooded residential neighborhoods, triggered landslides, and cut off electricity to more than 3.5 million homes and businesses across the United States.
The storm caused widespread devastation when it reached the level of a “major hurricane” as it moved through Florida and Georgia, leading to severe flooding in North Carolina and South Carolina on Friday.
When the storm reached the level of a powerful Category 4 hurricane, it hit the Big Bend region of Florida on Thursday, causing boats to capsize in ports, trees to fall, and cars and streets to be submerged by floodwaters.
Police and fire crews carried out thousands of water rescues across the affected states, including in Atlanta, where authorities were forced to evacuate a residential complex due to the floods.
The hurricane made landfall in Florida with winds reaching 225 km/h, weakening into a tropical storm as it moved into Georgia early Friday morning. The U.S. National Hurricane Center reported that the storm’s winds were blowing at 55 km/h, and it was downgraded to a tropical depression as it weakened over Tennessee and Kentucky.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) announced on Friday that around 24% of crude oil production and 18% of natural gas production in the Gulf of Mexico had been halted due to Storm “Helene.”
Oil and gas production losses have been decreasing for the second consecutive day after peaking at 511,000 barrels last Wednesday.
The bureau stated that energy producers had halted 427,000 barrels per day of oil production and about 343 million cubic feet of natural gas from Gulf waters.
The maritime regulatory authority confirmed that nine oil and gas platforms had been evacuated as of Friday, representing about 2.4% of all platforms in the Gulf of Mexico, according to reports from producers.
Oil and gas companies began shutting down offshore production on Tuesday as Storm “Helene” moved across the Gulf of Mexico.
Chevron announced on Friday that it had begun redeploying workers and restoring production on the platforms it operates following the storm’s passage.
