Helene to be major hurricane as it makes landfall in Florida

Hurricane Helene was upgraded to a Category 2 storm Thursday morning (Sept. 26) as it crossed the Gulf of Mexico and moved quickly toward Florida, leaving disaster in its wake as it swept over Mexico.

Cancun saw its streets flooded, beaches emptied and trees downed as the hurricane passed, causing travel disruptions, according to NBC News.

The Association Press reported that the storm is expected to be a major hurricane — meaning a Category 3 or higher — by the time it makes landfall on Florida’s northwestern coast Thursday evening, where forecasters expect there will be a “catastrophic” storm surge, as well as damaging winds, rains and flash floods hundreds of miles inland across much of the southeastern U.S.

The National Hurricane Center said “preparations to protect life and property should be rushed to completion.”

Hurricane and flash flood warnings have been issued up into south-central Georgia. The governors of Florida, Georgia, the Carolinas and Virginia have all declared emergencies in their states.

The storm was expected to make landfall where Florida’s panhandle and peninsula meet, Jack Beven, senior hurricane specialist at the National Hurricane Center in Miami told the Associated Press.

“Regardless of how strong it is, it is a very large storm,” Beven said. “It’s going to have impacts that cover a large area.”

Mandatory evacuations were ordered in the panhandle and in low-lying areas around Tallahassee, Gainesville, Cedar Key, Lake City, Tampa and Sarasota.

The National Weather Service office in Tallahassee forecast storm surges of up to 20 feet (6 meters) and warned they could be “catastrophic and unsurvivable” in Florida’s Apalachee Bay.

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