By OAN staff members Abril Elfi and Sofia Flores
Wednesday, September 25, 2024
Update 3:45pm: Hurricane Helen is expected to become a Category 4 storm by the time it makes landfall in Florida.
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Helene could bring a storm surge of up to 20 feet to parts of Florida, according to the National Hurricane Center.
The storm is expected to move across the eastern Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday evening and is expected to make landfall the following day.
12:50pm– Florida has been placed under a hurricane watch as Storm Helen has officially reached hurricane strength.
Helene was upgraded to a hurricane on Wednesday, with sustained winds of at least 80 mph.
Helene is currently expected to make landfall along the northeastern Gulf of Mexico coast late Thursday and could reach Category 3 status with maximum sustained winds of 120 mph over the next 36 hours, according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC).
NCH said landfall is most likely in eastern West Florida, where storm surge, flooding and strong winds are expected.
“If it becomes a Category 3 storm, it will be the strongest storm to make landfall in the United States this season.” FOX Weather Meteorologist Stephanie Van Oppen New York Post.
“A storm surge of 10 to 15 feet is expected in the Big Bend region of Florida, which is extremely life threatening and will be a pretty big storm,” she added.
“So the Tampa Bay area is expecting a storm surge of 5 to 8 feet, even though they're quite far from the center of the storm.”
President Joe Biden has now declared a state of emergency in Florida.
Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis expanded his state of emergency to 61 counties on Tuesday. As of Wednesday morning, Florida's entire Gulf Coast was under a state of emergency.
Additionally, voluntary and mandatory evacuations have been ordered in 13 counties.
The mandatory evacuation order also includes the University of Tampa, which told students to evacuate by 1 p.m. Wednesday.
Mobile home residents in particular were urged to evacuate to more stable locations before the storm hit.
“It's not safe [in mobile homes]Florida Emergency Management Director Kevin Guthrie said at a press conference. Phoenix, Florida Reporter Mitch Perry.
This hurricane is expected to be particularly large and fast-moving, bringing storm surge, strong winds and heavy rainfall that is expected to extend far from the storm's center.
Georgia is also reportedly under a state of emergency.
States such as Kentucky, Indiana and Tennessee are very likely to see rainfall from Helene.
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