TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Florida residents in the direct path of Hurricane Helene are preparing for impact.
Right on the water, about an hour south of Tallahassee, Michael Humphreys and his neighbors are hoping it won’t be as bad as Hurricane Michael.
“It was just a mess, everything under the house went off to the road,” he said.
West of there in Apalachicola, some people were still leaving town on Thursday as the water started rising.
From there up through the state’s capital and along the Big Bend, most businesses closed early.
6 p.m. report:
Many homes were boarded up, with some residents even using tape to try and secure their property.
Crews have been putting up orange barriers to protect power stations from the storm surge.
In Tallahassee, resident Wynn said his concern is all the trees.
“It’s gonna knock down the power lines and we’ll be out of power,” he said. “Last time in May, when we had the tornadoes, I was out of power for right days.”
In the island of Cedar Key, everyone Local 10′s Christian De La Rosa spoke to said they were going to evacuate, but resident Anne Osteen said she is concerned.
“I might have a neighbor in about two houses down they might be staying,” she said. “What do we say, prepare for the worse, pray for the best.”