MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – The death toll from Hurricane Helene continues to rise. The monster storm swept through the South Eastern United States last week.
The latest count shows that as of Wednesday afternoon, 165 people lost their lives across six states – Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia – with more than 600 people still missing, making Helene the second deadliest hurricane since the year 2000.
Helene will also go down as one of the costliest storms in U.S. history, upwards of $160 billion. A real-life disaster movie aligned with what scientists warn is an ominous trend.
“The warmer you make the oceans, the more moisture they evaporate into the atmosphere, the more energy there is to intensify these storms,” explained American climatologist Michael Mann during an appearance on CNN.
In less than 24 hours, Helene rapidly intensified from a Category 1 hurricane to a powerful Category 4 as it grew in strength and size feeding off the record high water temperatures in the Gulf of Mexico.
The storm first unleashed apocalyptic destruction on Florida’s Gulf Coast and big bend where it made landfall on Thursday, before tracking north and dumping biblical amounts of rain in the Appalachians of North Carolina.
It was the ninth major hurricane to landfall along the Gulf Coast since 2017.
“The reason we’re seeing these more intense, more extreme storms is because of how much we’ve warmed up the planet, how much we’ve warmed up the oceans, and that warmth is sort of baked in for, you know, the near future,” said Mann.
Scientists estimate that climate change increased Helene’s rainfall in North Carolina by up to 50%. Earth’s atmosphere can now hold more moisture and is significantly hotter than in preindustrial times, warmed by more than a century of fossil fuel pollution.
“The planet itself is saying – you are destroying me...please do something,” said Thais Lopez Vogel, co-founder of the VoLo Foundation.
The South Florida-based family non-profit uses philanthropy to help solve the climate crisis.
“We work on supporting science-based climate solutions, enhancing education, and improving health at the same time because they’re all correlated,” Lopez Vogel explained.
She knows that time is ticking as the earth’s climate is warming at an unprecedented rate. According to the European Copernicus Climate Change Service, for the first time global warming has exceeded that 1.5 degree Celsius threshold across an entire year from 2023 to 2024.
The climate crisis is here and there are warning signs around the world: more days of extreme heat, raging wildfires, drought, and more extreme weather events like Helene.
“It’s time and we need to do it, we need to take action,” Lopez Vogel said.
Local 10′s Environmental Advocate and Anchor Louis Aguirre spoke with Lopez Vogel right after she returned from Climate Week in New York City.
Lopez Vogel participated in a panel discussion with actor and activist Matt Damon and Miami Climate Activist Yoca Arditi Rocha about addressing the urgent need for more investment in women, water, and climate solutions.
“It’s a platform for everybody to come together, to share, to raise awareness, share knowledge, and also take action, because the solutions are there, and we have to learn how to use them,” she said.
Getting to net zero emissions by the year 2050 means reducing our use of fossil fuels.
“When we stop polluting the atmosphere with carbon pollution, the planet will stop warming up,” explained Mann.
Effectively transitioning to clean energy alternatives means scaling up solar and wind and increasing electric vehicle sales by up to 50% by 2030. Lopez Vogel said she is optimistic.
“We are moving the needle, and we have the more EV cars…Solar panels are a penny per kilowatt right now, so it’s coming down the price like little by little,” she said. “It seems like everything is falling into place.”
Lopez Vogel believes the lessons from Helene can spur more action, but it will be up to all of us to make sure the world moves in the right direction, with speed and scale.
“It’s a global issue, and we have to solve it all together,” she said. “We have the solution, just we need the will of our government and the people to do something to act.
There was some optimistic news coming out of from New York Climate Week. Preliminary numbers show 2024 will see a slight drop in global carbon emissions. Scientists are encouraged that this means that worldwide efforts to expand renewable energy sources like wind and solar are starting to make a difference.
The conversation continues with Florida Climate Week presented by the VoLo Foundation. It starts Monday October 7th and there are lectures and panel discussions you can attend in person or virtually.