Hurricane Helene continues to rapidly intensify on Wednesday morning (25) and has now become a hurricane, with maximum sustained winds of 128 km/h.
“Additional strengthening is expected and Helene is expected to be a major hurricane (Category 3 or higher) when it makes landfall in the Big Bend area of Florida (northwest of the state) on Thursday night (26),” according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC).
Helene is expected to grow even larger as it continues to strengthen in the Gulf of Mexico over the next 36 hours.
A flash flood watch has been issued for more than 20 million people from Florida to the southern Appalachians, with a risk of tornadoes through Friday across the region.
Helene arrives as Florida’s Big Bend region is still recovering from several recent hurricanes. Hurricane Debby hit the region in early August as a Category 1 storm, and recovery efforts are still ongoing as the region braces for another blow. Idalia — the last Category 3 hurricane to hit the U.S. — also hit the Big Bend region in August last year and generated a record storm surge that emerged from Tampa to Big Bend.
A hurricane watch has been issued for parts of Florida’s Gulf Coast from the Anclote River to Mexico Beach. The Mexican government has also issued a hurricane watch from Cabo Catoche to Tulum.
Evacuations began Tuesday (24) in some coastal areas of Florida facing potentially dangerous storms. Authorities ordered mandatory evacuations in parts of at least nine counties, including Citrus, Hillsborough, Charlotte, Gulf, Manatee and Pinellas.
In Taylor County, southeast of Tallahassee, the sheriff’s office issued a mandatory evacuation order Tuesday night for all residents and established a curfew in effect from sunrise to sunset, according to a statement. “This system will be unlike anything we have experienced to date,” the sheriff’s office said. Mandatory evacuations were also ordered for all of Franklin and Wakulla counties.
The Southwest is also bracing for potentially large and powerful impacts. Torrential rains, strong winds capable of causing significant power outages and the threat of tornadoes will spread across the region.
The storm is expected to still be a hurricane when it hits southern Georgia on Friday morning (27).
Still, there could be changes in the storm’s path in the coming days, the National Hurricane Center warned, and that could change where its worst impacts occur.
This content was originally published in Florida prepares for arrival of category 3 hurricane on the CNN Brasil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
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