Hurricane (Typhoon) — Ben Hill, Georgia

2024-09-26 to 2024-09-27 · Ben Hill, Georgia

Event narrative

The 911 system went down. There were three trees on homes, blocked/damaged roadways, and minor car accidents. 97% of utility customers lost power.

Wider weather episode

Hurricane Helene made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 140 mph and a minimum central pressure of 938 mb (27.70 inches) at about 11:10 PM EDT on Thursday, September 26th, in Taylor County Florida just east of the Aucilla River. Helene quickly moved inland across Taylor and Madison Counties before moving into Lowndes County in South Central Georgia. The hurricane produced a devastating storm surge along the coast of Apalachee Bay, exceeding 15 feet above normally dry ground in some locations. A large area of damaging winds extended from the Big Bend coast well-inland into Georgia along the I-75 corridor, causing significant damage. Wind gusts of at least 90 to 100 mph spread inland through Taylor, Madison, Lafayette Counties in Florida, and into Lowndes County in Georgia. Widespread power outages, structural damage, and severe tree damage occurred throughout this area. Significant rainfall also fell with the hurricane, with a maximum of 12 to 14 inches falling west of Tallahassee in the Apalachicola River Basin. Based on preliminary damage assessments conducted by the Georgia Department of Agriculture, the Georgia Forestry Commission, and the University of Georgia, Hurricane Helene left behind an estimated $6.46 billion in damage to Georgia's agriculture and forestry industries, more than three times the damage from Hurricane Michael in 2018.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1210038. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.