Helene speeds toward the Florida coast

Storm chaser Mike Scantlin reported live from Perry, Florida, just before 10 p.m. on Sept. 26, as Hurricane Helene rapidly closed in on the coast.

Transcript

00:00Mike Scantlin is in Perry, Florida. He's going to be very close to the point of landfall.

00:04Mike, how are things changing for you now compared to, say, two hours ago?

00:10Well, you know, over the last 20 minutes or so, the outer edge of that core, or eye wall,

00:15it's kind of a big thick eye wall, core section, started to move through the Kerry area. We've

00:19already seen multiple power flashes here. South of town, power is flickering as well. So there's

00:24already trees down on lines here, and we're getting dust probably 40 to 50 here, and probably

00:31suspend around 30 right now as the outer edge of that core. Just now moving into Perry, I think

00:37this is exactly where the eye is going to go right over us here. So this poor town has been through

00:41it. This is the third hurricane to come right through in 13 months. We were here for Debbie,

00:47what seems like just a couple of weeks ago, and then Adelia about 13 months ago here. So this

00:52town is going through it again. Power is still on, but that's, you know, with power flickering

00:57already, it's going to be a long powerless night here in Perry. Mike, I have the eye of

01:06Helene about 55 miles off to your southwest. I am sure you are aware that Perry is included in that

01:14extreme wind warning where there is a concern of wind gusts of at least 115 miles per hour.

01:23Yeah, yeah, we got the warning. All of our devices blew up as soon as we crossed into

01:30Taylor County, and I think it's good to get those warnings out. Those push notifications

01:34are probably going to save lives tonight. You know, every little bit of information helps,

01:39and you know, there's a few people still out driving around, but this town is mostly made

01:43up of storm chasers right now. Okay, Mike, we're having a little trouble. We're having a little

01:49trouble with your audio right now, Mike. Right now, we'll check back in with you, but again,

01:55batting down the hatches, you're going to see the worst of Hurricane Helene coming up here

01:59within the next hour to hour and a half. Let's take you to the radar right now. Here's the

02:04heavy rain coming on in toward Tallahassee, toward Perry.