Hurricane Helene has rapidly strengthened as it moves closer to the United States, with the storm forecast to be one of the most dangerous in recent history to hit the coast of Florida.
Helene registered maximum sustained winds of 215km/hour (130 miles per hour) on Thursday evening, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) said, describing the storm as “extremely dangerous”.
It was forecast to make landfall around 11pm local time (03:00 GMT on Friday) in Florida’s Big Bend region, Florida officials said.
Heavy rainfall was forecast for the southeastern US, with a “life-threatening storm surge” along the entire west coast of Florida, according to the NHC.
“A catastrophic and deadly storm surge is likely along portions of the Florida Big Bend coast,” the agency said earlier in the day, predicting it could reach as high as 6 metres (20 feet) in Apalachee Bay.
Helene is forecast to be one of the largest storms in breadth to hit the region in years, said Colorado State University hurricane researcher Phil Klotzbach.
He said that since 1988, only three Gulf hurricanes were bigger than Helene’s predicted size: 2017’s Irma, 2005’s Wilma and 1995’s Opal.
#Helene is forecast to make landfall tomorrow as a major #hurricane in the Big Bend of Florida. It would be the 4th Gulf Coast hurricane landfall in 2024. Only 5 other years on record (since 1851) have had 4+ Gulf hurricane landfalls: 1886, 1909, 1985, 2005, 2020. pic.twitter.com/tGtWjWuNAM
— Philip Klotzbach (@philklotzbach) September 25, 2024
Connie Dillard, a resident of Florida’s state capital of Tallahassee, which is in the direct path of the storm, said she was praying that everyone remains safe.
“That’s all you can do,” Dillard said as she shopped at a grocery store with thinning shelves of water and bread before hitting the highway out of town.
Airports in St Petersburg, Tallahassee and Tampa were planning to close on Thursday, and 62 hospitals and nursing homes evacuated their residents on Wednesday.
“Helene is a gargantuan hurricane,” said Ryan Truchelut, Chief Meteorologist at WeatherTiger, a Tallahassee-based weather consulting and forecasting company.
“The eyewall is likely to reach the the Big Bend coastline around 8pm [00:00 GMT], with Helene’s center probably crossing the central Apalachee Bay shore prior to midnight,” he added in a post on his blog.
Hurricane-force winds extend outward up to 95 kilometres (60 miles) from the centre, with storm-force winds covering up to 555km (345 miles). US states as far inland as Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky and Indiana could see rainfall.
Forecast to reach Category 3
In its latest update, the NHC said Helene was located about 335km (210 miles) southwest of Tallahassee.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis issued an emergency warning for most of the state’s counties.
Officials have said that about 18,000 electricity line workers are on standby to restore power once it’s safe to go into the area, and 3,000 US National Guard members are ready to help with the storm’s aftermath.
Federal authorities also were positioning generators, food and water, along with search-and-rescue and power restoration teams, the White House said.
Some residents along the Gulf Coast in Florida’s Panhandle have evacuated to safer areas inland, with memories still fresh of recent storm surge events.
In 2018, Hurricane Michael struck the city of Mexico Beach, Florida about 160km (100 miles) west of where Helene is expected to make landfall.
Michael rapidly intensified into a devastating Category 5 hurricane and caught residents off guard, causing an estimated $25.5bn in damage and 59 deaths.
In 2023, another Category 3 storm, Hurricane Idalia, left as many as 500,000 customers without power after it struck the northwest coast of Florida, also causing major flood damage from storm surge.
Idalia was the most powerful hurricane to hit Florida’s Big Bend region since 1950.
Meanwhile, Hurricane John reformed on Thursday off Mexico’s Pacific coast after causing extensive damage earlier in the week, killing two people, blowing tin roofs off houses, triggering mudslides and toppling trees, officials said.
John weakened to a tropical depression after reaching land on Monday night before regathering strength, and it is forecast to make another landfall in the Mexican state of Guerrero, north of Acapulco.
Helene is the eighth named storm of the current Atlantic hurricane season, which runs from June 1 to November 30, and the fourth to make landfall in the US. Hurricane Francine struck the Gulf Coast of Louisiana as a Category 2 storm two weeks ago.
Since 2000, only three other years besides 2024 have had four or more storms make landfall in the continental US.
This year’s hurricane season coincides with an insurance crisis for homeowners in some US states hit by rising fees and reluctance from private insurers to provide coverage in coastal areas.
The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicted an above-average Atlantic hurricane season this year because of record-setting warm ocean temperatures. It forecast 17 to 25 named storms, with four to seven major hurricanes of Category 3 or higher.
But the season got off to a slow start, leaving forecasters searching for factors that may have impeded the formation of major storms as they cross the Atlantic Ocean “hurricane corridor”.
