Hurricane Helene to Hit Florida as Category 4 Storm, Threatens Catastrophic Winds

Hurricane Helene is predicted to strengthen rapidly and may strike Florida's panhandle on Thursday as a Category 4 storm with winds up to 156 mph. Over 40 million people are under warnings and numerous evacuations have been ordered. Heavy rains and flash flooding are also anticipated.

Hurricane Helene is forecast to strengthen rapidly and could hit Florida on Thursday as a Category 4 storm, producing catastrophic winds of up to 156 miles per hour, forecasters said. Helene entered the Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday and is expected to gain strength from the gulf's warm waters before making landfall in Florida's panhandle on Thursday evening.

'For those in the path, that unfortunately means catastrophic wind impacts,' said National Hurricane Center Deputy Director Jamie Rhome. The storm's surge, a wall of seawater pushed onshore by hurricane-force winds, was upgraded to 15 to 20 feet in Florida's Big Bend area, where the storm is expected to hit. More than 40 million people in Florida, Georgia, and Alabama are under hurricane and tropical storm warnings.

Numerous evacuations were ordered along Florida's Gulf Coast, with school closures announced in Hillsborough and Pinellas counties. Melissa Wolcott-Martino, a retired magazine editor in St. Petersburg, was preparing to evacuate her coastal home. 'We had Idalia last year,' she said. 'We just finished renovations, and now we're packing up for a new storm. This is not great.'

(With inputs from agencies.)