Helene causes “tremendous” tree damage in Gainesville

Hurricane Helene made landfall late Thursday evening as a strong Category 4 storm near Perry, Florida, a community in Taylor County about 90 miles northwest of Gainesville.

The storm, which had maximum sustained winds of 140 mph, whipped at least tropical-storm-force winds through Alachua County in what appeared to be an unprecedented event for the Gainesville area.

“It's been a long night, but we're all still here. There is tremendous tree damage,” Gainesville Mayor Harvey Ward said in a phone interview Friday morning. “Almost always the storms end up being more of a rain event, but this time the wind was definitely the main issue.”

Ward said at its peak, in the early hours of the morning, more than 61,000 residents were without power. As of 10 a.m., Gainesville Regional Utilities (GRU) reported approximately 49,000 customers were still without power.

“As soon as the wind died down enough for the trucks to move, they sent the trucks out,” Ward said. “They did a great job.”

There were some outages following the storm, which Ward said was no surprise.

“When trees are cut down, other things will fall,” he said.

Alachua County sent out a text message alert Friday morning asking residents to stay home while cleanup efforts continue. Ward delivered the same message.

“The best thing we can all do is clean up our own trash at home, check on our neighbors and make sure everyone is safe,” he said.

Ward said nearly 170 traffic lights lost power overnight and crews were still working to restore them all – as well as clearing 35 to 40 downed trees blocking city streets.

Ward said the following roads remained closed as of 9:45 a.m. Friday:

• 5300 NE 39^Th Ave.
• 3300 NW 53^approx Ave.
• 3000 S. Main St.
• NW 34^Th Blvd. and 24^Th terrace
• NW 16^Th Ave. and Eighth St. (the result of a power poll that was “crushed and dangling”)

Ward encouraged Gainesville residents to use the myGNV app to report damage. He said he was pleased with the way the city weathered the storm.

“Gainesville has embraced this opportunity,” Ward said. “The good news is that I’m not aware of any major injuries in Gainesville, which is notable.”

Alachua County spokesman Mark Sexton said people outside of Gainesville are doing well.

“Miraculously, we only responded to a storm-related emergency,” he said. “A tree fell on someone, but there was no fatality. The person was taken to hospital where he received treatment.”

Jen Grice, the county's emergency management director, said the county has documented wind speeds of “well over 50 miles per hour” but she could not rule out hurricane-force winds, particularly in the western part of the county.

“This is probably the most significant wind event we have had in Alachua County since Irma. With Irma it could be even worse,” Grice said. “This was the first time in a long time that there was really widespread power outages, widespread tree felling and extensive power lines – an event for the entire county. There’s rubble everywhere.”

Grice urged residents to be patient while emergency crews clear the streets and restore power.

“Some areas and some things will take time because there are so many areas that need our attention,” she said.

As of 9:45 a.m., Alachua County reported that Northwest CR 231 was closed between NW 156th Avenue and 177th Avenue. The county encouraged residents to use the Alachua County Ready website to report damage — with pictures if possible.

In total, more than 4 million people were without power in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina on Friday morning as Hurricane Helene, downgraded to a tropical storm, continued to pound the southeastern United States.

According to the Tampa Bay Times, officials have reported six deaths related to the storm so far, including one from a falling tree in Dixie County and five in Pinellas County.

In Levy County, the National Guard directed traffic as first responders lined up along State Road 24 Friday morning to get to Cedar Key, where waves from the storm surge were reportedly splashing up to rooftops.

“We saw storm surges in many parts of Florida's west coast that exceeded what we saw with Hurricane Idalia,” Gov. Ron DeSantis said at a news conference early Friday morning.

DeSantis said first responders would conduct widespread search and rescue operations in areas that experienced what he called “historic” storm surges.

According to DeSantis, as of 6 a.m., Columbia (99%), Dixie (92%), Gilchrist (87%), Levy (83%), Suwannee (99%) and Union (86%) counties had the most power outage rates in the state.

Editor's note: This story has been updated.