UPDATE: Helene makes landfall as Cat 4

At about 11:10 p.m., Hurricane Helene made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane,

According to the National Hurricane Center, the hurricane came ashore just east of the mouth of the Aucilla River, about 10 miles west-southwest of Perry,

“Even with the shift, the eastern end of the county is still expected to get a very large surge,” Jennifer Daniels, emergency management director. said. “We’re getting gusts of around 50 mph at some of our Weatherstem stations. It’s basically sideswiping us at this point.”

“We have gotten extremely lucky to not deal with extreme winds,” she said. “There are extreme wind alerts on this for those following closer to the eye.”

Daniels said a fully-staffed emergency operations center warned people to expect 20-foot storm surges in Carrabelle, Lanark and as far as Alligator Point, with the stretch between Apalachicola and Carrabelle expected to have 10 to 15-foot surges, and between Indian Pass and Alligator Point between 6 and 10-foot storm surges.

In comparison, storm surges in Mexico Beach during Hurricane Michael were between 14 and 15 feet, and in Franklin County during Hurricane Dennis 15 years ago about 11 feet.

“It’s a fast-moving storm,” Daniels said. “It’s going to come in quick and move on out pretty quick. We’ll have 15 inches of rain after this is over.”

She said that once maximum sustained winds make the bridges impassable, the sheriff will order them closed. “There’s a lot of water already on the causeway. If it become impassable, the sheriff will close the bridges,” Daniels said. “We’re all asking people to stay off roads, go home and hunker down.

While mandatory evacuations are common during storms for barrier islands and low-lying areas, it’s been six years, during Hurricane Michael, that the county has ordered a county-wide mandatory evacuation, and from all indications plenty of people have heeded the word.

“I was told, and I haven’t been able to confirm it, that there were a few that stayed at Alligator Point and on Dog Island,” she said.