Hurricane Helene

A DEVASTATING STORM

Helene became the eighth named storm of the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season after being classified as a Tropical Storm in the Gulf of Mexico on 25 September.

It reached hurricane status on 26 September, initially as a Category 1 before quickly turning into a Category 2.

By late on 26 September, Helene had strengthened into a Category 4 hurricane, becoming the second major hurricane this year after Hurricane Beryl back in June.

On the same day it reached hurricane status, Helene moved quickly across the Gulf of Mexico before making US landfall at Category 4 status near the mouth of the Aucila River in Florida's Big Bend Region.

This marked the first time ever that a Category 4 hurricane had made landfall in the Big Bend, and Helene's abnormal size made it one of the largest hurricanes to hit the US in the last 40 years.

Following landfall, Helene headed towards Georgia, where it subsequently weakened to a Tropical Storm.

As the recovery from Helene continues, sadly there have been at least 231 deaths so far.

THE MIS RESPONSE

The MIS team released the Pre Event Report on GEO for Hurricane Helene on 24 September, which showed the Predicted Track, Predicted Arrival Times, and Cone of Uncertainty.

On 25 September, the product on GEO was updated to include a Potential Storm Surge Layer, identifying areas which could be at risk from the expected dangerous water levels and the likely extent of the storm surge.

There were also new Predicted Tracks, Predicted Arrival Times, and a new Cone of Uncertainty.

This layer was updated again on 26 September with additions to the Potential Storm Surge Layer.

After Helene made landfall in Florida on 26 September, the MIS team added an Exposure Layer to the GEO report on 27 September, which featured a multi-peril breakdown with unique Wind and Flood Exposure Grids for potentially affected areas alongside an initial damage estimate, as well as Wind Speeds and Power Outages.

On 28 September, the team released the first Claims Layer for Hurricane Helene, which covered Wind and Flood Claims Grids for areas where damage is present and the likely extent of this damage. There was also the first release of 15cm Aerial Imagery for coastal regions in Florida which have been impacted.

The Claims Layer was expanded on 29 and 30 September to include more affected locations, where additional 15cm aerial imagery was also added as well.

On 01 October, the team made further additions to the report, which included the first release of 7.5cm Aerial Imagery, which covered one of the areas under the eye of the storm - Madison, Florida.

02 October saw the first instances of Ground-Level Imagery added to the report, for Perry and Madison in Florida, as well as Valdosta in Georgia. On top of this, new 15cm aerial imagery was added, as well as updates to the Flood and Wind Exposure and Claims Layers.

As the response to this event went into its second week, the team added to the report on 03 October with updates to the 500m x 500m Flood Exposure Layer, as well as a 1km x 1km Wind Claims layer covering the coastal region and Tampa, Florida with additional 15cm imagery.

04 October saw another update to the Wind and Flood Claims Layers and the Flood Exposure Layer.

The team made more updates on 06 October with an updated 1km x 1km Wind Claims layer covering the coastal region and Tampa, Florida. There was also additional imagery of Tampa and updated Power Outage layers.

On 07 October, the report was updated with a Wind Claims layer and 15cm imagery covering the Asheville region of North Carolina. On top of this was a release of an updated Flood Exposure Layer.

The MIS team will continue to monitor and assess the effects of Hurricane Helene as more data and information becomes available.

Claims Layer 9

Release of an updated 1km x 1km Wind Claims layer covering the the Asheville region of North Carolina. 15cm imagery added of Asheville, North Carolina.

Updated 500m x 500m Flood Exposure Layer.

Screenshot 2024-10-07 160652

Claims Layer 8

Release of an updated 1km x 1km Wind Claims layer covering the coastal region and Tampa, Florida. Additional imagery of Tampa and updated Power Outage layers.

Screenshot 2024-10-07 131016

Claims Layer 7

Updated 1km x 1km Wind Claims layer covering the the coastal region and Tampa, Florida.

Uupdated 500m x 500m Flood Exposure Layer and updated 50m x 50m Flood Claims Layer

Screenshot 2024-10-04 145427

Claims Layer 6

Updated 500m x 500m Flood Exposure Layer, as well as a 1km x 1km Wind Claims layer covering the coastal region and Tampa, Florida with additional 15cm imagery.

Screenshot 2024-10-03 164228

Claims Layer 5

Release of an updated 1km x 1km Wind Claims layer covering the the coastal region and Tampa, Florida with additional 15cm imagery.

Updated 500m x 500m Flood Exposure and 50m x 50m Claims layer encompassing the Florida Coast.

Ground-Level Imagery for Perry, Madison and Valdosta.

Screenshot 2024-10-02 192126

Claims Layer 4

Release of an updated 1km x 1km Wind Claims layer covering the cities of Madison and Perry in Florida with additional 7.5cm imagery of Perry and Madison, Florida.

Updated 500m x 500m Flood Exposure layer which incorporates North Carolina.

Claims Layer 3

Release of an updated 1km x 1km Wind Claims layer and further 15cm aerial imagery

Screenshot 2024-09-30 160842

Claims Layer 2

Release of an updated 1km x 1km Wind Claims layer, 500m x 500m Flood Exposure layer and 50m x 50m Flood Claims layer and further 15cm aerial imagery.

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Claims Layer 1

Release of a 1km x 1km Wind Claims layer, a 50m x 50m Flood Claims layer and Flood Hazard layers, 15cm aerial imagery and an updated Power Outage layer

Screenshot 2024-09-28 153041