### Hurricane Helene's Devastation Captured in Satellite Images

Satellite images from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reveal the extensive destruction wrought by Hurricane Helene when it struck Florida as a Category 4 storm. Late Thursday evening, NOAA's GOES East satellite documented the hurricane making landfall near Perry in northwest Florida, with wind speeds reaching up to 140 miles per hour.

The hurricane's impact was particularly severe in Keaton Beach, located just a 30-minute drive south of Perry. According to the sheriff of Taylor County, the storm destroyed 90% of the homes in Keaton Beach, as reported by WCTV News. Besides leveling homes, the storm uprooted trees, downed powerlines, and caused widespread flooding. As of Tuesday, more than 49,000 people in Florida were still without power, according to state government data.

Other areas near Florida's Big Bend region, including Dark Island and Fish Creek, also endured significant damage, as shown in NOAA's satellite images. However, similar images for other affected states have not been released by the agency.

After battering Florida, Hurricane Helene moved north, leaving a trail of devastation in its wake. The Associated Press reported that over 130 people have been killed across several states, including Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. Many residents lost their homes, businesses, and vehicles in the storm.

In North Carolina, the flooding destroyed a coffee shop owned by Susan Scoggins in Burnsville. She had hoped to offer her community a place of refuge. "My hope was that Maples would be a little safe haven for people to come to after the hurricane passed. But now, the building is just gone," she told Business Insider earlier this week.

The storm's aftermath has severely disrupted daily life across affected regions. Cities like Asheville, North Carolina, and Augusta, Georgia, are grappling with lack of running water and difficulty in delivering relief due to flooding and damaged infrastructure. "We're running out of candles, running out of batteries," Augusta resident Shaday Collins told Georgia Public Broadcasting. "Everybody right now is kind of in survival mode because everything is very limited."

Rainfall from storms that preceded Helene exacerbated the flooding, dumping a combined 40 trillion gallons of water – equivalent to Lake Tahoe – on the region over a week, as reported by the Associated Press. The saturated ground likely contributed to Helene's sustained strength as it moved inland, according to Dev Niyogi, a professor at the University of Texas at Austin.

"This has been an unprecedented storm that has hit western North Carolina," said North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper. "It's requiring an unprecedented response." Swollen rivers, landslides, and flash floods have created perilous conditions, reminiscent of the 1916 disaster in Asheville caused by the collision of two tropical storms.

Disaster relief efforts are underway, but challenges remain. Hundreds of people are missing or unable to contact loved ones, and rural areas are particularly difficult to reach. "We know there's areas we haven't gotten to yet," FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell told CNN. "And so we'll continue to get that information of the places that still need critical equipment, critical food and water."