Soldiers with the 256th Medical Company Area Support of the Florida National Guard secure equipment on Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024, as they prepare for Hurricane Helene. (Christopher Vann/Florida National Guard)
ATLANTA — The Air Force evacuated aircraft from several Florida and Georgia bases on Wednesday, and some 3,300 Florida National Guard troops prepared to respond as Hurricane Helene bared down on the state’s Gulf Coast.
Military officials at Tyndall and MacDill Air Force bases in Florida sent F-35 fighter jets, KC-135 Stratotankers, and other aircraft out of the storm’s path as it strengthened from a tropical storm into a Category 1 hurricane on Wednesday. Moody Air Force Base also sent its HH-60 combat rescue helicopters and A-10 Thunderbolt II attack jets away from the south Georgia post, officials there said.
Florida had called up much of its National Guard force to stage and prepare to respond to the devastation Helene was likely to create. National Hurricane Center forecasters predicted the storm would strengthen into a Category 3 hurricane ahead of landfall Thursday evening near the state’s so-called Big Bend region, where the panhandle meets the state’s peninsula. Category 3 storms are major hurricanes that boast winds from 111 to 129 mph and almost always cause “devastating damage,” according to the hurricane center.
The Florida Guard was preparing 12 helicopters and high-wheeled rescue vehicles among other assets ahead of the storm, officials said.
Georgia, Alabama and North Carolina were expected to call up at least some of their National Guard troops in the coming days, said Sabrina Singh, a Pentagon spokeswoman. Officials in Florida said another 2,000 Army and Air Force Guard troops also could be activated, if needed.
Air Force Airman 1st Class Marcos Rivera of the 927th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron marshals a KC-135 Stratotanker at MacDill Air Force Base, Fla., on Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024. (Monique Stober/U.S. Air Force)
MacDill’s commander, Air Force Col. Ed Szczepanik, issued an installation-wide mandatory evacuation of the base near Tampa, Fla., on Wednesday afternoon. He said the installation would remain closed until first responders declare it safe after the storm passes.
Moody Air Force Base near Valdosta, Ga., announced it would also close Thursday.
At Tyndall near Panama City, Fla., officials ordered a partial evacuation, but they planned to keep the base open through the storm.
The National Hurricane Center’s models Wednesday afternoon showed the storm’s eye likely to miss both bases. However, the center predicted massive, life-threatening storm surge up to and beyond 12 feet and flooding along Florida’s coast from Apalachicola east to roughly the Anclote River, which is about 10 miles north of central Tampa. Storm surge in those areas could surpass 12 to 18 feet, forecasters said.
The hurricane center also warned Helene would likely bring heavy rainfall and “devastating hurricane-force winds” inland north Florida and Georgia on Friday. It was expected to drop 5 to 10 inches of rain on areas in its path, including Atlanta and potentially as far north as Nashville, Tenn., according to the center.
“Weakening is expected after landfall, but Helene’s fast forward speed will allow strong, damaging winds, especially in gusts, to penetrate well inland across the southeastern United States, including over the higher terrain of the southern Appalachians,” hurricane center forecasters said Wednesday.
