As weather experts predicted, Hurricane Helene has made landfall with extreme prejudice. The category 4 storm swept over Tampa last night, killing at least one person and leaving the area covered in several feet of water. Veuer’s Tony Spitz has the details.
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00:00As weather experts predicted, Hurricane Helene has made landfall with extreme prejudice.
00:04The Category 4 storm swept over Tampa last night,
00:08killing at least one person and leaving the area covered in several feet of water.
00:12It made its way onto the mainland at 11.10pm,
00:15taking down power lines and raising sea levels with a destructive storm surge.
00:19The hurricane continued to pick up power and speed as it edged towards the Florida coast on Thursday,
00:24growing as it moved over the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico.
00:28By the time it reached land, Helene's wind speeds had increased to 156 mph.
00:33Ahead of the storm's landfall, authorities urged residents to flee,
00:36with officials on the ground calling it unsurvivable and catastrophic.
00:41Meanwhile in the air,
00:42this video was captured by a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
00:46hurricane hunter mission.
00:47They flew over the storm, capturing the stark contrast of the cyclonic winds
00:51in the periphery of the storm with the tranquil eye at its center.
00:54However, they weren't up there just for the show.
00:57They say the mission gathered critical storm data,
00:59hopefully to help those who are still enduring the Category 4 hurricane on the ground.