Helene has strengthened into a hurricane as it enters the Gulf of Mexico, forecasters said late Wednesday morning. They warn that it is poised to continue intensifying as it hurtles toward Florida, where it is expected to make landfall on Thursday.
The storm is expected to bring “life-threatening storm surge, damaging winds and flooding rains to a large portion of Florida and the southeastern United States, according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC).
“Preparations to protect life and property should be completed by early Thursday since tropical storm conditions are expected to begin within this area on Thursday,” it said….
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As of 11 a.m. ET, its center was about 500 miles south-southwest of Tampa, Fla., and its maximum sustained winds were 80 mph, which makes it a category 1 hurricane.
And forecasters warn that the storm, fueled by abnormally warm Gulf waters, will get even stronger before it reaches land. It could reach maximum sustained winds of 125 mph by late Thursday, which would make it a category 3 hurricane, forecasters say.
“There is still some uncertainty on exactly how strong Helene will get, and upward adjustments to the forecast intensity could be required in subsequent advisories if Helene rapidly intensifies more than forecast,” they said. “Regardless, Helene is forecast to be a large major hurricane when it reaches the Big Bend coast of Florida.”
The NHC says the “large size of Helene” — with tropical-storm-force winds stretching 400 miles across — poses a danger of life-threatening storm surge along the entire west coast of the Florida Peninsula and Florida’s Big Bend (the northern region where the panhandle meets the peninsula), which is where the highest inundation levels are expected…..
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