Hurricane Helene, which is expected to make landfall in northern Florida Thursday evening, has been upgraded to a Category 4 storm with maximum sustained winds of 130 mph.
The National Hurricane Center (NHC) upgraded the massive storm, barreling down on Florida, Thursday evening.
“Update 6:20 PM EDT Thurs: Helene now an extremely dangerous Category 4 hurricane,” the NHC wrote in an update.
“A NOAA Hurricane Hunter aircraft currently investigating Helene recently found that the maximum sustained winds have increased to 130 mph (215 km/h). The minimum central pressure has also decreased to 947 mb (27.96 inches) based on dropsonde data,” it added:
The 6 p.m. ET update from the NHC warned that, “A catastrophic and deadly storm surge will occur along portions of the Florida Big bend coast, where inundation could reach as high as 20 feet above ground level.”
“Potentially catastrophic hurricane-force winds are expected within the eyewall of Helene and will spread inland over portions of northern Florida and Georgia when Helene makes landfall in the Florida Big Bend region this evening,” it adds, also warning of “damaging wind gusts” well inland, affecting portions of Georgia as well as the Carolinas.
Even the Florida Highway Patrol in Tampa announced Thursday evening that the Skyway Bridge and Howard Frankland Bridge are closed, with video showing the chaos unfolding in the area.
Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) warned Floridians in the path of the storm that they still have time to evacuate, but time is quickly running out.
“But all those areas there along the Big Bend coast, in areas that are low lying that are susceptible to potentially major storm surge, you’re under an evacuation order,” he said, warning residents that they will lose power.
“You still have time if you have power, make sure your phones are charged. Make sure you have what you need to be able to get through a period of time where you’re going to have an interruption in power. If you’re sheltering in place in one of those evacuation zones, make sure you let people know that you’re doing that, whether it’s a friend a family member,” he said, also warning of tornadoes, tree limbs, and down power lines.
“The storm is going to hit Florida’s Big Bend region sometime this evening, likely around 11 o’clock. It’s going to be dark,” he said, urging Floridians to wait to assess the damage until the sun comes up on Friday.
WATCH Gov. Ron DeSantis’s latest update below:
