Hurricane Helene is set to make landfall in Florida's Big Bend region on Thursday evening as the storm has been upgraded to a Category 4 hurricane with sustained winds of 130 mph

Hurricane Helene is rapidly strengthening in the Gulf of Mexico, with forecasters saying it could reach Category 4 status before it makes landfall. Thousands are under a mandatory evacuation order, with…

Parts of the US are bracing for storm surges, flooding rains and strong winds as Hurricane Helene approaches.

The National Hurricane Center is now calling for Helene, which reached hurricane strength Wednesday morning, to rapidly intensify into an extremely dangerous Category 4 storm before making landfall along Florida’s Gulf Coast on Thursday. Forecasters warned that the powerful and unusually large storm could bring “catastrophic” impacts from storm surge, wind and flooding in Florida and other parts of the southeastern United States as it moves swiftly inland through Friday. The National Hurricane Center warned of a “catastrophic and deadly” storm surge in Florida’s Big Bend area “that could reach as high as 20 feet above ground level.” It also cautioned the surge could be life-threatening along the entire west coast of Florida’s peninsula. The surge in Tampa Bay was predicted to reach 5 to 8 feet high, which could break records. According to the Hurricane Center, “potentially catastrophic winds,” with gusts up to 130 mph are also possible in the Big Bend area, where the storm is predicted to make landfall Thursday…