Hurricane Helene hits Upstate SC tonight. What you need to know. | Hurricane Wire

GREENVILLE — Hurricane Helene is expected to make landfall in Florida late Thursday and reach the Upstate soon after, raising the risk of further damage, power outages and flooding in certain areas.

A foretaste of severe thunderstorms and high winds hit Greenville on the night of September 24. City and energy workers were tasked with cleaning up the damage on September 25 before Helene’s expected arrival.

Now there are also concerns about flooding, National Weather Service meteorologist Clay Chaney told The Post and Courier.

“With the ground already pretty saturated, the winds from Helene blowing and the rain coming on top of that, there will be a lot of tree blowing, power outages, flash flooding and landslides in the mountains,” Chaney said. “So this is going to be an insane event.”

According to an NWS forecast, Helene is expected to have wind gusts of 40 to 50 mph, with gusts as high as 70 mph possible.

Post and Courier reporters are following the storm. Updates will be provided here as Helene develops.

Calm before the storm

9 o’clock Before Helene’s arrival on the night of Thursday into Sunday, business is still bustling in the Upstate.

The rain continued throughout the night but was significantly weaker than the microburst that left 12,000 people without power on Wednesday morning.

Despite a light drizzle, joggers made their usual laps on the trails around Unity Park this morning. Overnight rains had swelled the Reedy River to just five or six feet below the Spinx Family Bridge on the Swamp Rabbit Trail.

The only other sign of potential trouble was barriers erected by the City of Greenville that blocked pedestrian traffic to the main lawns of Unity Park.

Greenville Parks Department employees were busy removing leaves and small branches from drainage ditches in Cleveland Park.

Neil Heuringer, who works for the city’s parks and recreation department in Cleveland Park, worked with Storm Bruner, who has only been on the job for three weeks.

“We are currently preparing for the flood,” said Heuring.

Bruner smiled at the irony of his name.

“I’m brand new,” he said.

The Reedy River, which flows through the park downstream from Falls Park downtown, was flowing quickly but was still at least six feet below the flood mark.

—Anna Mitchell

How did the Greenville area prepare for Helene?

The city deployed significant resources to a surprise “microburst” storm Tuesday night, including 60 firefighters, 25 police officers and six traffic engineers. Twenty-two public service employees worked throughout the night on cleanup, and 34 were on duty throughout the day Wednesday.

City of Greenville Parks and Recreation Department staff reported over 25 downed trees in Cleveland, Falls and Unity parks, along the Swamp Rabbit Trail and at the Greenville Zoo. According to the city’s website, city staff were busy Wednesday cordoning off unsafe areas, removing downed trees and clearing park paths and roads. Staff also worked to remove damaged trees that could pose a hazard during the next storm.

The city has also canceled all activities scheduled for Thursday at the Prisma Health Welcome Center in Unity Park and the Moonlight Movies in Falls Park.

Although the microburst was unexpected, it did not impact the city’s resources or preparedness, city spokeswoman Beth Brotherton said in a text message.

“When it comes to public safety and emergency response, we operate around the clock,” she said.

Most of the storm was contained over the city, so the county did not need to deploy emergency crews, county spokesman Bob Mihalic said. Like other downtown buildings, the county headquarters in Greenville’s west end was without power until about 2 p.m.

Authorities are preparing for the approaching hurricane by making sure all of the county’s generators have enough fuel, all of the county’s vehicles have full gas tanks and chainsaws are working. Storms typically cause many trees to fall in the northernmost and southernmost parts of the county, Mihalic said.

According to a press release, Miracle Hill opened its emergency shelters to those made homeless by the storm on September 25 and announced that they would remain open until September 27.

The shelters provide over 200 additional beds for men and women with children who need shelter from the storm.

This is a live story. Check back during the storm for further updates.