Florida braces for life-threatening winds, storm surge as Hurricane Helene picks up strength

TAMPA, Fla. – Helene reached hurricane strength Wednesday morning as it continues to undergo rapid intensification along its journey into the Gulf of Mexico, where it is aiming for a destructive landfall along the Florida Gulf Coast on Thursday.Hurricane Warnings and Storm Surge Warnings spread across the west coast of Florida as Helene is forecast to become a major hurricane, bringing the potential for life-threatening storm surge, flooding rain and destructive hurricane-force winds.The National Hurricane Center says there is danger of life-threatening storm surge along the entire west coast of the Florida Peninsula and Big Bend, with the highest water levels – as much as 15 feet above dry land – expected in the Big Bend area as the storm comes ashore late Thursday. Tampa Bay could see 5-8 feet of storm surge inundation under current forecasts. Mandatory evacuation orders are in effect for swaths of Florida’s Gulf Coast from the Panhandle across the Big Bend and into Southwest Florida.This includes portions of Hillsborough County, which is where Tampa is located, for Zone A. Florida Gov.

Ron DeSantis issued an executive order Tuesday declaring a state of emergency for 61 of the state’s 67 counties to help agencies prepare for the incoming storm.Hurricane Helene is currently located near Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula.Helene’s maximum sustained winds have increased to at least 75 mph with higher gusts, according to the NHC’s latest update. Helene has rapidly intensified as it approaches the southeastern Gulf of Mexico and is expected to become a major hurricane, defined as winds of at least 115 mph, as it moves toward the northeastern Gulf Coast on Thursday.The current 120-mph peak intensity forecast would rate the storm a Category 3 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Scale.A Hurricane Warning has been issued from Anclote River to Mexico Beach, Florida, where damaging hurricane-force winds are expected to begin later Thursday...