“After landfall, Helene is expected to weaken, but her rapid forward speed will allow strong, damaging winds, particularly gusty, to penetrate well into the interior of the southeastern United States, including the higher elevations of the southern Appalachians,” the National Hurricane Center said.

Dailey said Tallahassee, which has avoided many of the devastating blows that have struck other Florida cities over the years, is on the brink of a “historic event.” Officials said there could be power outages, downed trees and building damage that could take weeks or months to clean up.

“If the city of Tallahassee is directly hit by a Category 3 hurricane, it will be the strongest hurricane to ever hit our community. The current forecast continues to see us directly in the cone of Hurricane Helene,” Dailey said at a press conference on Wednesday. before the forecast showed that it could be a stronger Category 4 storm.

“Now is the time to prepare,” Dailey said. “We don’t have time to wait. Today is the day.”

On Wednesday, numerous residents responded to the call to prepare.

By Wednesday morning, more than 17,000 sandbags had been distributed at the three locations set up by the city.

Leroy Peck, 66, was one of many who spent part of the day shoveling sand into bags in a parking lot outside a community center. He had already filled up his cars with gas and gone shopping.

“I’ve been through some storms, but we’re usually on the edge of the storm, and this one is expected to be a direct hit, so it kind of heightens the fear,” said Peck, a retired police lieutenant. “We’ve been dodging bullets for a long time, and I guess our luck ran out.”

“This is something that needs to be taken seriously, so we’re monitoring the weather and just trying to make sure friends and neighbors are OK,” he added.

Peck said he will ride out the storm with his mother-in-law and 8-year-old son, while his wife works as a 911 dispatcher.

There were more signs of the impending storm throughout the city. The city announced that there would be no garbage and recycling collection on Thursday and Friday.

Tallahassee International Airport said it would suspend operations starting Thursday and resume when it is safe to do so.

Three major colleges – Florida State University, Florida A&M University and Tallahassee State College – have canceled classes for the rest of the week.

The city said Tuesday that relief crews from several states were expected to arrive late Wednesday to assist with relief and recovery efforts.

Major Thornton III, 29, said he and his family planned to evacuate their home and stay with relatives further south.

“We heard the storm is getting stronger, so why stay here? Just play it safe. There’s no harm in protecting yourself and leaving,” he said while shoveling sandbags on Wednesday. “You have to protect the family.”

Several residents said the looming storm brought back memories of Hurricane Michael, which made landfall as a Category 5 storm before weakening over land. The storm devastated Tallahassee in 2018 and caused widespread power outages across the region.

Powell said it was very difficult to return to her home because fallen trees and debris blocked the roads and she had been without power for over a week.

“It was just terrible,” she said.

Peck said he hopes the storm has taught residents not to be careless about their safety and to prepare for the possibility of being without power for a while.

Latoya Williams, 40, said that as a longtime Florida resident, she was not afraid of the storm but had made appropriate preparations and moved from her mobile home to a hotel with her husband and children.

“The house can be replaced. We cannot be replaced. As long as I have my family, all of us together, everything is fine,” she said.