Hurricane Helene was a catastrophic Category 4 hurricane that made landfall near Perry, Florida, on September 26, 2024, with 140 mph winds, becoming the strongest storm on record to hit the Big Bend region. Forming as a tropical storm on September 24 in the western Caribbean, it rapidly intensified over the Gulf of Mexico before striking the U.S. mainland. The storm unleashed devastating storm surge across Florida's Gulf Coast, while catastrophic rainfall—peaking at 30.78 inches in Busick, North Carolina—triggered over 2,000 landslides and historic flooding in the southern Appalachian Mountains, killing at least 106 people in North Carolina alone. Helene also spawned 39 tornadoes and left over 7.4 million customers without power across the Southeast. In total, the hurricane caused at least 252 deaths and $78.7 billion in damages, making it the deadliest U.S. mainland hurricane since Katrina in 2005 and the fifth costliest in American history.