OAN Staff Abril Elfi and Sophia Flores
Wednesday, September 25, 2024
Update 3:45 PM: Hurricane Helen is now forecasted to become a Category 4 storm by the time it makes landfall in Florida.
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According to the National Hurricane Center, Helen has the potential to reach a storm surge as high as 20 feet in certain portions of Florida.
The storm is expected to cross into the eastern Gulf on Mexico on Wednesday evening. It will make landfall the following day.
12:50 PM– Florida has been put under a Hurricane watch as the Helene storm has officially reached hurricane-level force.
On Wednesday, Helene was promoted to a hurricane after reaching winds of at least 80 miles per hour.
According to the National Hurricane Center (NHC), Helene is currently set to hit ground along the northeast coast of the Gulf of Mexico late on Thursday, and it may reach Category 3 — with winds of up to 120 mph over the next 36 hours.
The NCH said that the greatest landfall probability will be along the eastern part of the Florida panhandle, which can expect a storm surge, flooding rains, winds.
“If it does make one as a category three storm, that would be the strongest storm this season to make a US landfall,” FOX Weather meteorologist Stephanie van Oppen told the New York Post.
“We’re looking at storm surge in the Big Bend of Florida region from 10 to 15 feet, which is extremely life threatening, and it’s going to be a pretty big storm,” she added.
“So the Tampa Bay region is even anticipating a storm surge of five to eight feet, even though they’re going to be well removed from the center of the storm.”
President Joe Biden has now declared a state of emergency in Florida.
GOP Florida Governor Ron DeSantis expanded the state of emergency declaration on Tuesday to 61 counties. As of Wednesday morning, all of Florida’s Gulf Coast was under state of emergency status.
In addition, there are also orders in 13 counties of voluntary and mandatory evacuations.
The mandatory evacuation order included the University of Tampa, which ordered students to clear out by 1 p.m. Wednesday.
Residents in mobile homes, in particular, were urged to flee to more stable locations ahead of the storm.
“It is not safe [in mobile homes],” Florida Emergency Manager Kevin Guthrie said at a press conference, according to Florida Phoenix reporter Mitch Perry.
The hurricane is predicted to be especially large and fast-moving, meaning that storm surge, winds, and heavy rain will probably extend far from the storm’s center.
Reports also stated that Georgia is also under a state of emergency.
States like Kentucky, Indiana, and Tennessee could very likely experience Helene-related rainfall.
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