Florida officials are asking residents who refuse to evacuate from the path of deadly Hurricane Helen to mark their arms and legs with personal information in case bodies need to be identified after the Category 4 hurricane passes. I am calling on you to do so.
“If you or someone you know chooses not to evacuate, please write your name, date of birth, and important information on your arm or leg with a permanent marker so that you can be identified and The family will now be notified,” the Taylor County Sheriff’s Office wrote. Facebook page ahead of Thursday's Helen landfall.
Taylor County lies squarely in the path of the storm's expected landfall in Florida's Big Bend, where the panhandle meets the peninsula.
The hurricane is expected to make landfall early Thursday night, with experts saying it could produce an “unsurvivable” storm surge of up to 6 feet.
Authorities have ordered the area to be evacuated, but some residents are resisting.
In an effort to avoid the almost inevitable casualties and rescue efforts, Taylor County officials are reminding people who may be affected by the storm that they can assist by sending basic information to law enforcement if they choose to do so. I'm calling out.
“To help search and rescue teams prioritize these locations, please provide the following information: Is the residence inland or on the coast? Full address of the residence.”
The sheriff's office also asked for the number of people and animals in the home, their names and contact information, as well as “additional information such as recent photos of the individuals, disabilities, and special requirements.”
After raging as a Category 3 storm throughout the afternoon, Helen began sustaining winds of 130 mph in the evening and was upgraded to a Category 4.
Shortly after, Gov. Ron DeSantis warned those who had not yet evacuated that there was “still time” to do so, but not much longer.
“We can't control how strong this hurricane gets,” he said.
“We cannot control the path of a hurricane, but what we can control is what we can do to give ourselves the best chance of surviving this hurricane in a safe manner.”
The National Hurricane Center described the expected Big Bend storm surge as “catastrophic and deadly” and other impacts of the storm as “life-threatening.”
Hurricane Helen is one of the strongest storms recorded in the history of the Gulf of Mexico.
It has already inundated Florida's coastline and caused pre-emptive flooding in many areas, and the Yucatan Peninsula and Cuba were hit as it passed.
