Residents told the BBC they were already seeing "whitewater rapids" on streets as the category four storm barreled toward them.
Read Also
- Sayeeda Warsi quits Conservatives over UK party’s lurch to ‘far right’
- French inflation cools sharply in September after drop in energy prices, transport costs
- Helen of Florida: ‘Nightmare’ hurricane makes landfall at 225km/h
- French rugby hero Dupont wraps up post-Olympics vacation with NFL workout
- China's ambitions for semiconductor self-sufficiency thwarted by lack of chipmaking tools
- Plans underway for bronze sculpture honouring former Victorian premier Daniel Andrews
- Kokoda track shut indefinitely after PNG landowners demand payments
- Cars drive across Tampa bridge as huge waves and 130mph winds from Hurricane Helena crash onto road
- To surname or not to surname? That is the question dividing Japan
- Shigeru Ishiba to become Japan’s next PM after winning ruling party vote
Latest BBC
- Japan's scandal-hit ruling party picks next PM
- Trump and Zelensky to meet amid Republican anger
- 'I hope we have a home to go back to'. Floridians hunker down for Hurricane Helene
- What satellite data shows about rocket damage in Lebanon
- Will Ferrell on being his trans friend's road trip ally
- Fire breathers and snowmen: Africa's week in pictures
- 'Rape me, not my daughters' - Sudan's horrific war
- BBC asks Trump what he would do differently in the Middle East
- Ros Atkins on... Why the US election is crucial to Ukraine
- Israel striking Hezbollah with ‘full force’ despite ceasefire calls