– Sept. 30, 2024 –
Good morning! While the Georgia coast was spared the worst of Hurricane Helene’s wrath, emergency managers here are still tallying up the damage and many residents are still in the dark. We start today with what we know about the storm’s toll. We then move on to an unusual voting situation on the coast, where an election was halted last week after more than 800 votes were cast.
Questions, tips or concerns? Send me a note at mary.landers@thecurrentga.org
Update: On Oct. 2, 2024 Cumberland Island National Seashore extended the comment period on its proposed land swaps to Oct. 20, 2024.
NEWS: ENVIRONMENT
Tallying up the toll of Helene
Helene hit the Georgia coast with tropical storm force winds last week. That bears repeating, if only for the warning value: Helene was a Category 4 hurricane at landfall, but the highest sustained winds in Coastal Georgia (and in most of Georgia) were less than the 74 mph required for the weakest hurricane designation of Category 1. Still, the damage and the power outages were considerable, as The Current’s Mary Landers reports. Federal assistance is on its way to at least two coastal counties, Chatham and Liberty, as Dave Williams of Capitol Beat reports.
Ongoing power outages have left many coastal residents seeking ice and a place to cool off. As one neighborhood gets power and a nearby one waits, the grumbling begins. Some of those complaints may be justified, The Conversation reports. In an analysis of data from over 15 million U.S. consumers who lost power when hurricanes made landfall, poorer communities waited longer for the lights to go back on.
Helene also has emergency response spread thin, though, because the storm was so wide and brought destruction so far inland. The New York Times examined how Helene kept its strength as it traveled over land, where storms usually dissipate. Dev Niyogi, an earth and planetary sciences professor at the University of Texas at Austin attributes Helene’s staying power to the “brown-ocean effect,” which allows warm, waterlogged soil to influence a storm in the same way the sea surface does.
Scientists don’t expect to see more hurricanes as the earth gets hotter from fossil fuel emissions. But they’re already seeing an increase in how quickly storms gain strength. Helene is the latest example, intensifying from a Category 1 to a category 4 in less than 24 hours.
NEWS: ENVIRONMENT
Sapelo vote canceled
We had expected to bring you the results today of the Oct. 1 special election in McIntosh County. But a judge last week halted voting in the petition-driven referendum. Referendum supporters sought a repeal of zoning changes that Gullah Geechee people say threatens their continued existence on Sapelo Island. The county sued, and Superior Court Senior Judge Gary C. McCorvey issued the order to cancel the election. More than 800 people had already cast their ballots in early voting.
Sapelo Island descendants who intervened in the case vowed to appeal to the Georgia Supreme Court. They have a 30-day window to act.
Just one thing
This week’s tip for personal environmental action comes from reader Julie van Pelt, who wrote with a tip to reduce plastic use: “I have had great success with powdered laundry detergent. The same stuff our moms and grandmas used. It can be a bit hard to find, but so much better than the giant plastic jugs!”
Send “just one thing” you do as part of your personal environmental action plan to mary.landers@thecurrentga.org. We’ll publish our favorites and credit the contributors. Thanks!
On our radar
Cumberland Island National Seashore is seeking public feedback on four proposed land exchanges. By exchanging property with private landowners, the National Park Service says it seeks to lessen impact on visitors. More information about the plan is available at the nonprofit Wild Cumberland. Comments should be submitted at this site, or post marked by Oct. 20, 2024 and sent to: Cumberland Island National Seashore, 101 Wheeler Street, Saint Marys, GA 31558.
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Coastal emergency managers take stock of Helene’s damage
Despite multiple tornado warnings during the storm, there was no confirmed tornado touchdown in Chatham County.
Biden approves major disaster declaration for Georgia Helene damage
Work crews for Georgia Power and the state’s Electric Membership Corporations (EMCs) reported that about 370,000 customers were still without electricity as of Monday. More then 1.3 million lost power at Helene’s peak.
Hurricane Helene power outages leave millions in the dark
An analysis shows that show that poorer communities wait longer for the lights to go back on.
Judge halts Sapelo zoning vote mid-election
A judge halted an ongoing vote in McIntosh County to repeal a zoning change granting larger houses on Sapelo Island’s Hogg Hummock.
Hurricane Helene: Updates
This page is dedicated to regular updates for Coastal Georgia during Hurricane Helene
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