Thousands of residents on Wednesday began evacuating parts of coastal Florida as the US state braces for Hurricane Helene, forecast to barrel ashore as a powerful, potentially deadly storm.
Helene strengthened into a hurricane mid-morning in the Gulf of Mexico and is “expected to bring life-threatening storm surge, damaging winds, and flooding rains to a large portion of Florida and the Southeastern United States,” the National Hurricane Center in Miami said in its latest bulletin.
Maximum sustained winds have increased to near 80 miles (130 kilometers) per hour with higher gusts. “Additional strengthening is forecast, and Helene is expected to be a major hurricane when it reaches the Florida Big Bend coast Thursday evening,” the NHC added.
Governor Ron DeSantis has issued a state of emergency for nearly all of Florida’s 67 counties, mobilized the National Guard and positioned thousands of personnel ahead of possible search and rescue, power restoration and road clearing operations.