Hurricane Helene rapidly intensified into a Category 4 hurricane hours before its anticipated landfall on Florida's northwest coast Thursday night. Forecasters predict life-threatening storm surge, dangerous winds, and widespread rainfall across the southeastern U.S.
Helene became a tropical storm Tuesday in the western Caribbean Sea and became a hurricane Wednesday.Helene strengthened into a Category 4 hurricane hours ahead of its expected landfall on Florida ’s northwest coast Thursday night, and forecasters warned that the enormous storm could create a “nightmare” surge in coastal areas and bring dangerous winds and rain across much of the southeastern U.S.
Helene arrives barely a year since Idalia slammed into Florida's Big Bend and caused widespread damage. Idalia became a Category 4 in the Gulf of Mexico but made landfall as a Category 3 near Keaton Beach, with maximum sustained winds near 125 mph . The shift has the storm aimed squarely at the sparsely-populated Big Bend area, home to fishing villages and vacation hideaways where Florida’s Panhandle and peninsula meet.
“You live down here, you run the risk of losing everything to a bad storm,” said Anthony Godwin, 20, who lives about a half-mile from the water in the coastal town of Panacea, as he stopped for gas before heading west toward his sister’s house in Pensacola.
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