South Floridians woke up to windy but otherwise beautiful weather Thursday morning as Hurricane Helene churned towards the western side of the state, leaving some wondering if the region’s response was overblown.
But dangerous winds, thunderstorms and tornadoes are all still possible throughout the region as the day progresses.
Helene’s outer rainbands reached the region overnight Wednesday, bringing brief but gusty winds and localized heavy rain. The hurricane, which is forecast to make landfall in the Big Bend region sometime this evening, is “unusually large,” forecasters say, meaning its effects will be felt far to the east of its center, including all of Broward, Palm Beach, and Miami-Dade counties. The entire region is under a tornado watch until 8 p.m.
Most of the region was operating as normal, with some closures.
“The County is operating business as usual today,” Broward County wrote on social media Thursday morning. “While we are well out of the cone of concern for #HurricaneHelene, the County remains under a Tropical Storm Warning and a Tornado Watch.”
Roads
The strong winds could be felt throughout the state, leading officials to warn residents to stay off the roads and stay aware of possible trees plunging through roofs. Some palm fronds littered Interstate 95 Wednesday night, possibly due to the wind.
But by Thursday morning, South Florida’s roads were largely clear. Florida Department of Transportation’s Broward, Palm Beach and Treasure Coast operations centers conducted a road assessment Thursday morning but found “no reports of local impacts,” according to spokesperson Billy Canedo.
The department will continue to monitor the roads through its cameras and routine road ranger patrols.
Transportation
Airports, buses and trains largely continued to bustle as usual Thursday.
Brightline and Tri-Rail were operating as usual.
The Fort Lauderdale, Palm Beach and Miami airports remained open. Fort Lauderdale’s airport had 14 cancellations in the last 24 hours, while Miami’s had 25. Palm Beach International reported none.
Broward County Transit was also operating normally, the county said, though Pembroke Pines canceled its local shuttle. Palm Tran was also operating as usual.
“Palm Tran continues to actively monitor Hurricane Helene and its progress towards the Florida Panhandle,” the service wrote. “Palm Beach County is under a Tropical Storm Warning and is expecting weather impacts.”
Port Everglades remained open, despite reporting wind gusts as high as 42 mph just before sunrise.
Parks and beaches
Some beaches remained open Thursday with warnings against swimming; others were closed entirely.
In Broward, parks and beaches largely remained open, while all of Palm Beach County’s beaches and parks were closed.
“Broward County Parks are operating normally and continuing to evaluate weather conditions,” the county wrote Thursday morning. “Public Works crews are on standby preparing for any possible traffic signal issues or flooding of storm drains.”
TRACKING MAP: Where and when will Hurricane Helene hit Florida?
Schools
The relative lack of bad weather left some residents confused after Broward and Palm Beach County school districts elected to keep schools closed Thursday.
“yeah for a little bit of wind,” one person wrote in a Facebook comment on the Palm Beach County School District’s announcement. “No reason they couldn’t go to school today.”
Others had supported the decision Wednesday night, and questioned why the districts had not yet closed the schools.
On Broward School District’s post, one person added Thursday, “It’s so funny to read all the comments-previous post parents were pissed that broward was going to stay open and now they close and parents are pissed they are closing.”
Broward, Palm Beach County schools will close Thursday; Miami-Dade schools to open
Originally Published: