Hurricane Helene slammed into Florida’s Gulf Coast in a single day Thursday (Sept. 26) with satellites capturing hanging views of the colossal storm, which has prompted widespread flooding and energy outages affecting tens of millions of individuals.
Hurricane Helene made landfall as a lethal Class 4 storm. It struck Florida’s Massive Bend coast, drenching the state and neighboring Georgia, in addition to North and South Carolina, leaving an estimated 4 million folks with out energy, in response to the New York Instances. The storm led to 19 deaths throughout three states, the Instances reported.
Satellites operated by the U.S. Nationwide Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and NASA cameras on the Worldwide House Station watched Helene because it made landfall. The storm has since weakened right into a tropical storm, but it surely’s nonetheless deluging the area with intense rainfall and winds.
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“Helen producing historic and catastrophic flooding over parts of the southeast and southern Appalachians,” officers with the Nationwide Hurricane Heart wrote in an replace right this moment. As of 11 a.m. EDT (1500 GMT), Tropical Storm Helene was situated about 30 miles (50 kilometers) southwest of Bryson Metropolis, North Carolina with most sustained winds of 45 mph (75 kph). When it made landfall late Thursday, it had most winds of 140 mph (225 kph), the Nationwide Hurricane Heart reported.
An awe-inspiring have a look at Hurricane Helene and it is convective eye from earlier right this moment on this high-resolution satellite tv for pc imagery. pic.twitter.com/mDmJ4l5HAySeptember 26, 2024
NASA tracked the then-hurricane Helene all through Thursday, broadcasting reside views of the storm from the Worldwide House Station (ISS) throughout two flyovers of the U.S. Southeast throughout the day. ISS cameras revealed an unlimited storm with a transparent eye seen to astronauts residing aboard the orbiting laboratory.
The climate impacts of Helene compelled NASA and SpaceX to delay the deliberate launch of their Crew-9 astronaut mission to the ISS from Florida’s House Coast on the Atlantic facet of the state. That mission, which can ferry NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov to the station, was scheduled for Sept. 26, with SpaceX pushing it again to no sooner than Saturday (Sept. 28) as a consequence of climate considerations.
SpaceX pulled the Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon capsule for the mission off its launch pad at Cape Canaveral House Pressure Station to guard it in a hangar throughout the storm. By noon Friday (Sept. 27), the rocket was again atop its pad at House Launch Complicated 40. Crew-9 will probably be SpaceX’s first crewed flight to launch from the pad.
“With Hurricane Helene out of the way in which, Crew-9 is again exterior at pad 40,” SpaceX Vice President of Launch Kiko Dontchev wrote in a submit on X (previously Twitter).
With Hurricane Helene out of the way in which, Crew-9 is again exterior at pad 40. Proven beneath are two of the crucial groups that assist launch on the Cape. Each the Security and Pad groups work 24/7, 365 to maintain the machine working and our group protected. An enormous thanks to the women and men of… pic.twitter.com/lmXSShuVoYSeptember 27, 2024
Officers at NASA’s close by Kennedy House Heart additionally braced for the storm, however resumed regular operations as of noon Friday.
Kennedy has returned to regular operations following Hurricane #Helene.NASA’s SpaceX #Crew9 mission is concentrating on launch at no sooner than 1:17 p.m. EDT Saturday, Sept. 28, from House Launch Complicated-40. pic.twitter.com/9mcDe3J6YcSeptember 27, 2024
“Kennedy has returned to regular operations following Hurricane Helene,” NASA officers mentioned in an X replace.
SpaceX is scheduled to launch the Crew-9 astronauts for NASA on Sept. 28 at 1:17 p.m. EDT (1517 GMT). You’ll be able to watch the Crew-9 launch reside on-line, courtesy of NASA, starting at 9:10 a.m. EDT (1310 GMT).
