TOLEDO, Ohio — As Hurricane Helene approached coastal Florida and touched down late Thursday night as a Category 4 storm, people who live in the path of the system were either already evacuated or hunkering down for the impact.
But Michael Tounge was on a jet ski getting video of his friends surfing strong waves off the coast in the Panhandle.
"Couple times a year the surf gets really good when the conditions line up," Tounge said.
He explained his mindset on Wednesday as he looked at the latest forecasts.
"Not real sure if it was going to turn and hit us," he said. "We woke up and it looks like we're going to be OK. We decided to come out here."
Helene's sustained winds of 140 mph make it the strongest hurricane to hit the Big Bend region of Florida since records began in the 1850s, according to the WTOL 11 Weather Team. That kind of strength can severely damage trees, power lines and homes.
Ohio Task Force 1 announced on Tuesday it had mobilized to support Floridians and be ready for search and rescue operations when Helene slammed the region.
"Currently we are staged in the Orlando area, hunkered down until the storm passes," said Task Force 1 Engineer Benjamin Plowman.
Plowman, from Maumee, joined the state emergency group, which is part of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, in 2015.
Plowman is one of about 82 others in Florida for the emergency. Some of them are first responders and some of them represent cell service.
"Doing this with the sense of pride, you do feel a sense of self-satisfaction of being able to help others," he said.
While Tounge was in the choppy waters of the approaching storm, he said loved ones of his who were also facing danger were top of mind for him.
"I've got friends right there in the path," he said. "They're getting hit so hard right now."
As of Thursday, FirstEnergy and Consumers Energy both told WTOL 11 they have not sent help to Florida from Ohio or Michigan.