Hurricane Helene landfall prep; Wisconsin volunteers headed south
WISCONSIN - Hurricane Helene made landfall on Thursday evening, Sept. 26, but the impact will be felt for weeks, if not longer.
Some areas have been under a tropical storm warning and tornado warnings because of Helene. Some Wisconsinites are already headed south to help.
Hurricanes are a bit more personal now for Michael Hoffmann.
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"You just see pictures and videos, but you don't understand what actually happens," Hoffman said.
The Waukesha native and University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee grad is now a teacher in Ocala, Fla. The city is outside Helene's direct path, but that's still bracing for bands of thunderstorms.
"Right now, we just got a bunch of flashlights ready," Hoffman said. "We have coolers ready to go for food from the fridge if we need to, if we lose power."
Ryan Cedergren, who happens to be studying meteorology at Florida State University, said his campus is essentially shut down. The hurricane is headed right for Tallahassee Thursday night.
"We noticed earlier today, it's like a kind of eerie calm before the storm," he said.
Students there have either evacuated or are staying in designated shelters on-campus.
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"We were in this building for Idalia, and it did pretty well," Cedergren said. "Our only concern is Tallahassee is very hilly, so we might deal with some flooding. It doesn't drain super well. And then, we'll probably lose power pretty quickly."
It helps explain why more than a dozen volunteers from the American Red Cross of Wisconsin are already headed south.
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"The volunteers that are there right now have helped to set up shelters in northern Florida," American Red Cross of Wisconsin Regional Communications Director Jennifer Warren said. "We also have volunteers that have driven ERVs, which are emergency response vehicles, down to Florida."
Leaving their homes behind to help Floridians make it back to theirs, too.
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"They provide comfort, care," Warren said. "They help with handing out food, water."
The Red Cross is accepting monetary donations to help recovery efforts there.
The nonprofit also recommends blood donations as Helene put a halt to that in several southern states.
For more information, visit the Red Cross website.