AccuWeather's Ali Reid reported live from Tallahassee in the hours before landfall, warning of the dangers of an impending powerful hurricane.
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00:00Our team coverage continues now live with Allie Reid in the news.
00:04Very grim here, Allie. We were worried about tightening. We've been talking about that for days.
00:09I don't know if you heard that, but now maximum stay in winds of 140 miles per hour.
00:14You're sitting well inland. We expect the center of circulation to pass to your east by about 25 miles,
00:21but that is going to put you in the western eyewall.
00:24And, Allie, you're going to be, well, you won't be surprised because you and I talked about this.
00:28It's going to go from quiet to very, very extreme here very quickly here within the next few hours.
00:39And, Bertie, what I find so interesting about this storm is the fact that it is essentially going to go from zero
00:46to potentially 140 like you just mentioned.
00:49And, again, my photographer Andy and I, we've been sitting here scratching our heads saying,
00:53how is this almost possible? It is so quiet. It is eerily quiet here in Tallahassee right now.
00:59We do see some wind at times. We have a little bit of rain, but nothing in comparison to what you, Bernie and Jeff,
01:05are talking about potentially in the next couple of hours here as Helene makes landfall.
01:10Now, just to give you a perspective of where I'm at right now, this is Park Avenue.
01:13We're in downtown Tallahassee. This area in particular, well, first of all, is just gorgeous.
01:18So we wanted to really come here and show you what it's like.
01:21I mean, really, really show you the beauty here in Tallahassee.
01:24And, again, what I want to do for you guys, for the viewers at home,
01:27is give you a perspective of what Tallahassee looks like right now.
01:30And then, again, as we continue to check in with you over the next couple of hours,
01:34give you a perspective of what it's going to look like then.
01:37As we've been talking about, I think it's going to be a little bit different in the next few hours.
01:41I also want to put your direction down the street here if we can.
01:44At times, what we are noticing is the fact that when those wind gusts do pick up,
01:49we are seeing that from the ground up.
01:51And at times, it can look very eerie. It can look a little scary at times.
01:55And, of course, that is something that we are paying mind to over the next couple of hours.
02:00Also, just to kind of give you an aerial perspective of what's happening right now in this area,
02:06there are a lot of media crews here.
02:08We believe that this area might be like the media staging hotel as well.
02:11A number of networks are here.
02:13A lot of us are in this area because we know that this could potentially be a high-impact area.
02:17Some other things that we're paying mind to, the trees.
02:20We've been talking about that nonstop.
02:22The oak trees here because they are tall and because they are old.
02:26Even Governor Ron DeSantis, as he's mentioned that state of emergency yesterday over 24 hours ago.
02:33He even mentioned today in his presser the trees are going to be a big thing to look out for,
02:39especially in mobile home or manufactured home communities.
02:42They were told to evacuate yesterday.
02:45They had until 8 o'clock this morning.
02:47There are shelters all across Leon County, which is where we are now.
02:51A number of high schools are set up for those people to come in.
02:54At last check a few hours ago, we know there was a couple of thousand of people across those shelters.
03:00They're allowing pets into those facilities as well.
03:03They have cots for the elderly.
03:05And, again, paying mind to those people that are going to need some extra attention.
03:10I've been having a number of conversations, guys, with people that are in those mobile homes.
03:14Unfortunately, many of them bracing for potentially what could be the worst.
03:19They had to deal with a tornado back in May of this year.
03:22A lot of them suffered some pretty severe damage during that.
03:25And so now they are very nervous.
03:29They're feeling a little devastated and frustrated, anxious leading into the storm.
03:33And I mentioned it in the last hour because I'm feeling it myself.
03:36Nuts in my stomach.
03:38That is the best way to describe what is happening right now, guys.
03:41It is a little nerve-wracking.
03:43And because of the fact that we truly are going from zero to potentially 100 here
03:49in terms of when this storm actually comes through,
03:52it's going to be a little bit of a shock factor, I think, Bernie and Jeff,
03:55because we truly, again, it's so quiet right now.
04:00I just don't know how else, I mean, look at this.
04:03Bernie, look at this. It's so quiet.
04:06Isn't that eerie? It's an eerie feeling, guys.
04:08It's very eerie.
04:09Just a few miles away from landfall.
04:11Allie, I just want to let you know not to tie your stomach in knots more,
04:14but we now have issued a very rare extreme high wind warning.
04:19It does not include Tallahassee itself.
04:22I lost you guys, so if you're talking to me, unfortunately I'm not going to be able to hear you.
04:26All right, I just want to let you know we do now have an extreme high wind warning
04:30that is just east of Tallahassee.
04:33Those include Dixie, Lafayette, Madison, and Taylor counties.
04:38An extreme wind warning, that's when there is a concern for sustained winds
04:44or gusts of 115 miles per hour.
04:47That is not associated with thunderstorms.
04:49It is very rare. You don't see it much.
04:52As I mentioned a few hours ago, when I looked at the satellite picture,
04:56I had flashbacks of two storms that, unfortunately, I've had to cover in my career.
05:02Ian and Michael, both storms tightened right before landfall.