Hurricane Helene Warning
A sign displays a hurricane warning along a roadside as preparations are made for the arrival of Hurricane Helene, in Cedar Key, Florida on September 25, 2024. Thousands of residents on Wednesday began evacuating parts of coastal Florida as the US state braces for Hurricane Helene, forecast to barrel ashore as a powerful, potentially deadly storm. Latin Times

A Florida sheriff asked residents who rejected Hurricane Helene evacuation orders to write their name on an "arm or leg" so that their bodies could later be identified.

In a post to Facebook, the Taylor County Sheriff's Office instructed residents staying behind for the hurricane to write any important information, such as names and birthdays, on "your arm or leg in a PERMANENT MARKER so that you can be identified and family notified."

The sheriff's office also asked those riding out the hurricane to email their information to them so that Search and Rescue teams could prioritize areas where they knew people should be.

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Residents were asked to provide their address, names of the people staying there, the number of people and pets present, any information about disabilities and photos.

The sheriff's office also asked that evacuees refrain from returning early until they are cleared by the Emergency Operations Center, which will be posted on social media and by news outlets.

"Returning prematurely poses significant risks due to expected heavy flooding and other hazards. Many roads will be impassable, and there may be downed power lines, fallen trees and other dangerous conditions," the sheriff's office wrote in the post.

Hurricane Helene made landfall late Thursday as a category 4 hurricane. The National Hurricane Center said that winds reached up to 140 mph, and the storm surge could contain waves up to 20 feet tall.

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