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Hurricane Helene made landfall just after 11pm ET and Florida is now bracing for an “unsurvivable” flooding surge from the Category 4 storm.
Helene first struck Florida’s Big Bend region, bringing tropical storm conditions across most of the state’s western coast. Florida, Alabama, and parts of the Carolinas are at risk of flooding.
Just over a month after Storm Debby hurtled into the Sunshine State, Hurricane Helene now threatens to become the strongest storm to hit the US in over a year.
Helene had maximum sustained winds of 140mph as of Thursday night. Florida officials are warning residents to brace for life-threatening rain and prepare to shelter in place. All parts of Florida are under a hurricane or tropical storm warning.
Its size is also massive compared to previous hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico. Local forecasters estimate the storm stretches 822 miles in width, and 114 in length. Hurricane warnings extend roughly 90 miles above the Georgia-Florida line.
According to The Associated Press, Helene is forecast to be one of the largest storms in breadth to hit the region in years, with only three bigger since 1988.
