Hurricane Helen strengthened to a Category 2 storm on Thursday morning and continued to gain speed and strength, reaching wind speeds of 105 mph just hours before it was scheduled to make landfall in Florida.
Helen is expected to become a major hurricane with sustained winds of about 125 mph and reach Florida's Big Bend between 8 and 11 p.m. Thursday, bringing deadly and devastating storm surges along a 100-mile stretch of the Gulf Coast.
“Certainly, nobody has experienced a storm of this magnitude in recent history,” Gov. Ron DeSantis warned.
The storm was located about 11 a.m. Thursday about 255 miles southwest of Tampa.
Satellite images show that Helene formed an eye early in the morning, indicating that the storm was continuing to strengthen over the very warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico.
Experts have warned that a storm surge of up to 20 feet could hit large swaths of South Florida, and that many people would be deemed “unsurvivable.”
The danger area stretches from Apalachee Bay south of Tallahassee, from Carrabelle to the Suwannee River.
States of emergency have been declared in 61 of Florida's 67 counties, and evacuation orders have been issued in several counties in the storm's path.
“It will likely be dark by the time this storm passes,” DeSantis warned.
“Don't work in the dark. You don't know what dangers are lurking outside. The sun will come out. You'll have time to assess the situation.”
Emergency officials have dispatched more than 130 generators to gas stations so people can refuel their vehicles after the storm and have shipped additional fuel around the state, the governor added.
Officials in Pinellas County, home to St. Petersburg and Clearwater, urged residents who may still be in their homes to evacuate as Helene approached.
“There are too many people in Zone A. [the area directly on the coast] “They haven't heard. We were out there this morning. There are still too many people in the area,” Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri said at a news conference Thursday morning.
“It will reach a point where you will be alone, because we are not going to let our people get killed because they don't want to listen to us,” Gualtieri argued.
“That's just too dangerous.”
A 20-foot storm surge could “change the landscape” of Franklin County, near the affected areas in northwest Florida, said County Commissioner Ricky Jones. He told CNN.
Jones said he usually stays in town during hurricanes, but seeing the magnitude of Helen's power changed his mind.
“We were planning on riding out this because it could be a Category 2, maybe even 3,” Jones said. “As of last night, my family and I have made arrangements … we are not staying here.”
Floodwaters caused rivers to form over what was once a road on Treasure Island, a barrier island in Pinellas County, Thursday morning. A video shared on X showed.
Airports in Tampa, Tallahassee and Clearwater were closed Thursday, and more than half of flights to airports in Sarasota and Fort Myers were canceled, according to FlightAware.
Delays also occurred at Atlanta airport, the world's busiest, as well as in Charlotte, North Carolina, Miami, Fort Lauderdale and Orlando, Florida, according to CNN.
Torrential rains from Helene are expected to bring life-threatening flooding to Florida and surrounding areas, including two areas under a rare Level 4 extreme rainfall risk across the Southeast.
Strong winds are expected to cause damage from the Florida coast along Interstate 95 into Tennessee, and widespread power outages are possible.
Tornado warnings were also issued across Florida, Georgia and South Carolina.
Florida has deployed 3,500 National Guard troops, 200 members of the Florida High Patrol, and 550 generators and 40 large pumps from the Florida Department of Transportation to respond to the storm. NBC News reported.
As of Thursday morning, 80 health care facilities, hospitals, nursing homes and retirement homes had completed various levels of evacuation, Gov. DeSantis said.
Schools and universities along the Gulf Coast also canceled classes.
Helen had already inundated parts of the Yucatan Peninsula on Wednesday, flooding roads and downing trees as it passed offshore and grazed the resort city of Cancun.
The storm caused power outages in Cuba early Thursday.
Helen formed in the Caribbean on Tuesday.
The storm is expected to be one of the most powerful to hit the region in years, said Phil Klotzbach, a hurricane researcher at Colorado State University.
Helene is producing hurricane-force winds up to 60 miles from the center of the storm and tropical storm-force winds up to 345 miles from the storm.
Since 1988, only three Gulf of Mexico hurricanes have exceeded Helen's predicted magnitude: Irma in 2017, Wilma in 2005 and Opal in 1995, he said.
Helen is the eighth named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, which began on June 1. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicts this year's Atlantic hurricane season will be above normal due to record warming ocean waters.
With post wire
