Alert – Hurricane Helene’s grim death toll: 23 dead across the south as 4million are left without power – and monster storm isn’t over yet

• Waters in the iconic lake used to film scenes from the movie Dirty Dancing are overtopping the dam holding them back in North Carolina.
• Emergency officials in Rutherford County have started evacuating people downstream from Lake Lure and are sounding emergency sirens.
• ‘RESIDENTS BELOW THE LAKE LURE DAM NEED TO EVACUATE TO HIGHER GROUND IMMEDIATELY!! DAM FAILURE IMMINIENT!! (sic) EVACUATE TO HIGHER GROUND IMMEDIATELY!!’ said the Rutherford County Department of Emergency Management Friday.

• GEORGIA

– Eleven people have died, two of them in a tornado southeast of Macon.

• FLORIDA

– Eight people have died in total in the state.

– One person has been killed by a falling tree in the Big Bend’s Dixie County.

– A fallen sign killed one person on Interstate 4 in Tampa.

– There have been five deaths in Pinnellas County – at least two of them from drownings.

– A woman in her late 70s was found dead in her home in Tampa.

• SOUTH CAROLINA

– Two deaths have been reported from fallen trees in in Anderson County the state’s northwest

• NORTH CAROLINA

– A four-year-old girl has been killed in a car crash in Claremont.

– Another person has died after a tree fell on their home in Charlotte.

• There are at least 1.1million without power in Florida, and about one million in Georgia.
• There are also nearly 1.4 million more without electricy in South Carolina and more than 589,000 in North Carolina.
• Meanwhile, over 50,000 homes and businesses in both Tennessee and Virginia had no power Friday morning.

• A local clears boulders that were swept by fast-flowing waters onto a stretch of flooded road as Tropical Storm Helene strikes, on the outskirts of Boone

• A view of damaged house in Charlotte

• Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper said in a briefing Friday morning that there had been two storm-related deaths in the state and he expected more to come.
• Close to 300 roads were closed and over 100 swift-water rescues had occurred so far, Cooper said.
• He added that the storm, particularly in western North Carolina, is causing life-threatening flash flooding, numerous landslides and power outages from downed trees.

• Atlanta is also in flash flood warning

• Western North Carolina is under flash flood warning Friday morning.

• Airports in Tampa, St. Pete, Lakeland and Tallahassee planned to reopen for flights, and 2,000 miles of roadway have been cleared of debris so far, Jared Perdue, secretary of the Florida Department of Transportation, said Friday.

• Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens tells reporters that firefighters rescued about 20 people overnight from cars or apartments imperiled by swiftly rising floodwaters.

• A sixth person died in Charlotte, North Carolina, when a tree fell on a house, ABC reported.
• Two people died in Georgia and one person was reportedly killed in Florida.
• Moreover, three people died due to faling trees in North and South Carolina.

• Helene cut a path of destruction across western South Carolina as the storm moved further east than forecast.
• Almost 45 percent of homes and businesses across the entire state were without power Friday morning.
• Trees or other debris blocked every major road leading into Greenwood, a city of about 22,000 people about 65 miles west of Columbia, Greenwood County officials said on social media.
• One death has been reported in the state due to the storm so far. A tree fell on a house Friday morning in Anderson, the Anderson County Coroner’s Office said.

• Up to 10 inches of rain had fallen in the North Carolina mountains, with up to 14 inches more possible before the deluge ends, setting the stage for flooding that forecasters warned could be worse than anything seen in the past century.

• Hurricane Helene roared ashore in a sparsely populated region of Florida as a powerful Category 4 storm, peeling the siding off buildings, trapping residents in rising floodwaters and knocking out power to millions of customers
• More than 1.2 million homes and businesses were without power in Florida on Friday morning
• The storm made landfall late Thursday with maximum sustained winds of 140 mph in the rural Big Bend area, home to fishing villages and vacation hideaways where Florida’s Panhandle and peninsula meet.
• Video on social media sites showed sheets of rain coming down and siding coming off buildings in Perry, Florida, near where the storm arrived.

• Forecasters expect the system to continue weakening as it moves into Tennessee and Kentucky and drops heavy rain over the Appalachian Mountains, with the possibility of mudslides and flash flooding.

• First responders were out in boats early Friday to rescue people trapped by flooding in Citrus County, some 120 miles south of Perry.
• ‘If you are trapped and need help please call for rescuers – DO NOT TRY TO TREAD FLOODWATERS YOURSELF,’ the sheriff’s office warned in a Facebook post.
• Authorities said the water could contain live wires, sewage, sharp objects and other debris.

• The South Pasadena Fire Department and the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office came across a residence on fire and large objects including dumpsters moving through floodwaters

• A person was killed by a falling tree Friday morning in Charlotte, North Carolina
• It is the fifth storm-related death

• A Tampa resident shared images of the flooding in a building

during the storm

• It’s the first-ever flash flood emergency in the city

• A four-year-old was killed in a car wreck caused by the road’s conditions in North Carolina – the fourth death connected to the storm.
• A 12-year-old traveling on the same vehicle was also taken to the hospital with life-threatening injuries.
• Two children who were in the other vehicle were also hospitalized – a teo-year-old with life-threatening injuries anda four-year-old with less severe trauma, CNN reported.

• ‘Please write your name, birthday, and important information on your arm or leg in a PERMANENT MARKER so that you can be identified and family notified,’ the sheriff’s office in mostly rural Taylor County warned those who chose not to evacuate in a Facebook post.
• The dire advice similar to what other officials have dolled out during past hurricanes.

• Floridians who did not evacuate their homes as Hurricane Helene slammed into the state shared terrifying videos throughout the night of the damage

The National Weather Service shared this map overnight showing which coastal areas were at risk of storm surges.

Florida’s Big Big was forecast to see storm surges as high as 20 feet in some areas.

The average height of a two-story house is between 20 and 25 feet.

As Hurricane Helene hits southeast America, US authorities have warned that people could drown in their homes if they don’t heed evacuation alerts.

Parts of Florida and Georgia face ‘unsurvivable’ conditions due to the risk of ‘storm surges’, a weather event described as a ‘wall of water’.

But what is a storm surge, and how does one occur? Read our explainer here:

Oficials are warning that storm Helene is still ‘dangerous’ after it weakened to a tropical storm this morning.

It is still surging inland, leaving flooded roads and homes in its wake.

Helene has torn a destructive path through Florida into neighbouring Georgia, the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said, warning residents to stay sheltered ‘through the passage of these life-threatening conditions.’

‘Helene continues to produce hurricane force winds that are moving further into Georgia,’ the center said in a recent bulletin.

‘Life-threatening storm surge, winds, and heavy rains continue.’

Three people had died from conditions caused by Helene as of early Friday – one in Florida and two in Georgia – the states’ respective governors said.

One person was killed when a sign fell on a highway in coastal Florida, Governor Ron DeSantis said, while two people were killed in Georgia, Governor Brian Kemp said, with local media reporting the man and woman were killed when their trailer was picked up by a tornado.

Around 40 people have been rescued from rising waters in Florida’s Pasco Country, which sits to the north of Tampa, according to the local Sheriff’s office.

The office has shared this video on X showing rescue boats being deployed:

Earlier we brought you an image of a man and his dog moments before they were rescued 20 miles off the coast of Florida.

You can read the full story here:

In Taylor County, meanwhile, the Sheriff’s Department wrote on social media that residents who decided not to evacuate should write their names and dates of birth on their arms in permanent ink ‘so that you can be identified and family notified.’

A Florida sheriff’s office has urged residents to not go ‘sight-seeing’.

‘As Hurricane Helene makes its way out of Suwannee County we cannot stress this enough: STAY OFF THE ROADS… DO NOT BE RIDING AROUND SIGHT SEEING!’ Suwannee County Sheriff’s Office said on Facebook.

The post noted that there had been ‘extensive damage reported along the western side of Suwannee County,’ which sits east of Tallahassee.

The hurricane’s eye passed near Valdosta, Georgia, as the storm churned rapidly north into Georgia Thursday night.

The National Hurricane Center issued an extreme wind warning for the area, meaning possible hurricane-force winds exceeding 115 mph (185 kph).

At a hotel in the city of 55,000 near the Florida line, dozens of people huddled in the darkened lobby after midnight Friday as winds whistled and howled outside.

Electricity was out, with hall emergency lights, flashlights and cellphones providing the only illumination. Water dripped from light fixtures in the lobby dining area and roof debris fell to the ground outside.

Fermin Herrera, 20, his wife and their 2-month-old daughter left their room on the top floor of the hotel, where they took shelter because they were concerned about trees falling on their Valdosta home.

‘We heard some rumbling,’ said Herrera, cradling the sleeping baby in a downstairs hallway.

‘We didn’t see anything at first. After a while the intensity picked up. It looked like a gutter that was banging against our window. So we made a decision to leave.’

Helene is the third storm to strike the city in just over a year.

Reporting by Associated Press

Pictured: A gas station in Valdosta is seen ahead of the storm on Thursday

Hurricane Helene has weakened to a Category 1 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 75mph, according to the US National Hurricane Centre.

The storm travelled north from Florida to Georgia and was about 100 miles from Augusta and 40 miles from Macon moving at about 30mph, the hurricane centre in Miami said in a 4am local time update.

Helene is expected to remain a full-fledged hurricane as it rolls through the Macon, Georgia, area on Friday, forecasters said.

It could bring 12 inches of rain or more, potentially devastating the state’s cotton and pecan crops, which are in the middle of harvesting season.

‘The current forecast for Hurricane Helene suggests this storm will impact every part of our state,’ Georgia Governor Brian Kemp said.

After making landfall across the Florida coast, Helene is expected to move more slowly over the Tennessee Valley on Friday and Saturday, the NHC said.

Numerous evacuations were ordered along Florida’s Gulf Coast, including Sarasota and Charlotte counties.

In Taylor County, the Sheriff’s Department wrote on social media that residents who decided not to evacuate should write their names and dates of birth on their arms in permanent ink ‘so that you can be identified and family notified.’

The eye of the storm is currently passing over Georgia, according to weather tracking services. With the storm passing over land, winds have slowed in recent hours.

Georgia’s governor has confirmed that two people were killed by a tornado in the state.

Tornado warnings had gone out across northern Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas before Helene made landfall late Thursday, and the US National Hurricane Center warned of ‘catastrophic winds’ and life-threatening storm surge and heavy rains from the hurricane, even as it weakened as it moved inland.

Georgia Governor Brian Kemp said two people died in the centre of the state, urging ‘all Georgians to brace for further impact from Helene, remain vigilant, and pray for all those affected’ in a post on social media platform X.

Local media had reported a man and a woman died when a trailer was picked up by a tornado, citing Wheeler County Emergency Management Agency Director Steve Adams.

‘The trailer was taken across the highway by the tornado, hitting two vehicles, before landing in a field,’ WTOC-TV news reported.

Earlier in the day, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said one person had been killed while driving in coastal Tampa city.

A terrifying video released by the Florida Highway Patrol shows a storm surge reaching reaching the Howard Frankland Bridge as drivers attempt to cross.

Officials have warned drivers to say off the highways.

NASA Satellite images show Hurricane Helene churning through the Gulf of Florida on Thursday, shortly before making landfall:

If you’re just joining us, here are the latest updates on Hurricane Helene, which hit the United States overnight. Follow the DailyMail’s live blog for more updates:

• Hurricane Helene made landfall as a Category 4 storm in Florida just after 11pm local time last night;
• Ferocious winds reached 140 mph, hitting the Big Bend and battering the rest of the state;
• Over 1.4 million were left without power in multiple states as of this morning including Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas;
• At least three people have been killed, including two from a tornado in Georgia. Reports suggest their truck was picked up by the tornado;
• Multiple states have declared emergencies, preparing for widespread damage;
• Shocking pictures and videos showed homes underwater and towns covered in debris;
• Storm has been downgraded to a Catgeroy 1 tropical storm, but authorities are warning that it remains ‘dangerous’ as it barrels inland.

Click here for the full story:

A video shared on X has shown homes submerged in Florida, with one seen floating in the feep flood waters.

Hurricane Helene has been downgraded to a ‘strong’ Category 2 hurricane, hours after it slammed into the southeastern US coast as a Category 4 storm, US forecasters said.

‘Hurricane Helene is now a strong category 2 hurricane,’ the National Weather Service in Florida’s capital Tallahassee posted on X.

This came after the latest National Hurricane Center bulletin put maximum sustained windspeeds caused by the storm at 110 miles per hour, downgrading it on the five-level Saffir-Simpson scale.

Following Helene’s landfall late Thursday, 1,036,553 homes and businesses have bee left without power.

The array of outages can be seen on tracking website PowerOutage.us, after doubling in a matter of hours.

The outages had been increasing along the Gulf Coast and elsewhere across the state as well, though the hardest hit areas are in the Big Bend area.

The storm is currently making its way through the region now, toward Tallahassee.

Two people were killed when a tornado struck a mobile home in South Georgia just before Helene’s landfall.

Wheeler County Coroner Ted Mercer confirmed the casualties, saying the suspected tornado overturned the home.

An investigation is underway. No other information was available.

Parts of the Peach State are poised to be the next stop on Helene’s path.

It is currently moving northeast over the Big Bend region at speeds of nearly 50mph.

Ron DeSantis went on to warn that the death toll will more than likely rise by Friday morning.

‘It’s very likely there’s been additional loss of life [aleady],’ he said.

‘You’re [also] going to have people who are going to lose their homes because of this storm.

‘A storm of this magnitude, it leaves a lot of damage in its wake.’

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has confirmed the first fatality in his state caused by the storm.

It occurred on Interstate 4 in the westbound lanes at mile marker 1 in Tampa, after a road sign fell on a victim traveling in the area.

‘So that just shows you, that it’s very dangerous conditions out there,’ the governor said in a news conference late Thursday.

‘You need to be, right now, just hunkering down. Now is not the time to be going out.’

No other deaths in the state have been reported. DeSantis did not identify the person who died.

Helene made landfall in Florida’s Big Bend region at about 11:10 pm, just east of the Aucilla River,

The National Hurricane Center aired the anticipated development in an 11:20pm update. Storm surge already seen in several Tampa Bay cities are now set to pick up and eventually peak a little after midnight.

The Category 4 storm is also carrying with it winds of 140 mph, the center said – citing how they will continue to rage as the system moves northward.

It was about 45 miles east-southeast of Tallahassee when it hit the region, picking up pace at 45 mph.

The city of St. Petersburg just shut down its Northeast Sewer Treatment Plant to protect it from storm surge, set to peak after the storm makes landfall late Thursday night.

Citizens were told not to take showers, do laundry, or flush toilets, and that they ‘must’ brush their teeth outside.

‘It will take at least a minimum of 48 hours to resume plant operations after it’s turned off,’ officials said in a statement.

‘City staff will need to carefully inspect the plant to be sure it can be safely restarted and make any repairs if necessary before resuming operations.’

Helene, already partially past the Florida coast, is minutes away from making landfall, according to the National Hurricane Center.

The eye has already begun to come ashore, dangerously close to achieving landfall status.

The process has already begun, with 140mph winds seen near the storm’s center now set to descend on the Big Bend region.

Casualties are more than likely, meteorologists have warned.

Hurricane Helene has pushed water levels to more than six feet in Clearwater in the Tampa Bay area.

The old record in the normally sunny city is around 4 feet, recorded during the aptly named ‘Storm of the Century’ in 1993.

Water levels there are still rising, as is the case with other Tampa Bay cities like Old Port Tampa, East Bay, St. Petersburg, and Port Manatee.

All have recorded swells well over five feet – a marker never before passed in any of the locales.

This goes back at least 1950, when scientists first started to keep track.

As Helene rapidly approaches landfall status, radar images show how it is already encroaching on the Florida coast.

The storm – now packing 140mph winds – is seen pushing over the state’s coastline, with its eyewall already partially over land.

That’s where the storm’s worst winds are located, as coastal areas are already seing swells of up to seven feet and heavy rains.

Hurricane-force winds were ‘imminent’ in the state, forecasters said – and may keep intensifying.

A storm becomes a Category 5 when maximum wind speeds reach 157 mph, and makes landfall when its eye is halfway over solid ground.

The National Hurricane Center on Thursday warned ‘we’re probably going to lose a lot of lives’ because of the storm.

‘Historically speaking, 50 percent of lives lost are in a setup like this,’ the center’s deputy director, Jamie Rhome, told CNN.

‘We’re probably going to lose a lot of lives in this setup with this much flooding potential.

‘People have got to be ready to take care of themselves for several days without power,’ she added, as nearly half-a-million outages have already been seen.

‘Our worst-case scenario,’ she said, will see 15-feet storm bombard hit the Big Bend region.

The hurricane remains about an hour away.

A U.S. Coast Guard Air Station crew has already rescued a man and his dog after his sailboat started taking on water off Sanibel Island, before capsizing.

Hurricane Helene is set to make landfall in Florida’s Big Bend around 11pm tonight.

The storm is still traveling over the Gulf of Mexico, with its eye about 40 miles from the well-known region.

Half of the eye must cross land in order for it to be considered a landfall.

Cities like Tallahassee are now preparing for the worst.

Marine deputies were seen deploying boats for rescues in already flooded Fort Myers late Thursday night.

The storm, meanwhile, is only a few dozen miles from parts of the Florida coast – just 65 miles west of Cedar Key.

The rescue boat was seen detaching for an unknown mission, as the state’s death toll still sits at zero.

One ‘storm-related’ death has been recorded in Catawba County, Georgia, after a 4-year-old girl was killed early Thursday when the SUV she was riding in crossed over a rainy roadway’s centerline and crashed into an oncoming vehicle.

As of writing, Hurricane Helene has sustained winds of 140 mph, up 10 mph.

The system remains 90 miles south of Tallahassee, the city nearest to where it is set to make landfall.

That will happen tonight, as the storm moves at speeds of around 25mph.

Helene’s storm surge could reach as far as 20 miles inland, officials have warned.

Such a prospect would see swells strech as far as Leon County and Tallahassee to the north, despite them being nowhere near the coast.

‘In Wakulla County, the models show us that 20 feet storm surge will push water 20 miles from the coast and possibly into south Leon County and into Tallahassee,’ Wakulla County Commissioner Ralph Thomas told CNN Thursday night.

As of writing, water lievels are rising only in coastal areas, but that could change shortly when the hurricane makes landfall.

Wakulla County is located just south of Tallahassee, where Floridians were seen waiting for the arrival of Hurricane Helene at Lincoln High School, now a shelter.

Power outages in Florida passed 400,000 after sundown Thursday night

Most were seen in the Tampa Bay Area, where streets are already flooded.

Restoration crews usually cease work when winds reach 40 miles per hour – a marker that is dangerously close to being met.

The storm, meanwhile, is set to bring winds of at least 130mph when it makes landfall – an occurrence set to take place in a few hours further north.

A boat carrying a Donald Trump ‘Take Back America’ flag was spotted sailing through a flooded Bayshore Boulevard in Tampa Thursday night.

The city is currently experiencing storm surge of around 5.5 feet, and Helene is only a few hours away from hitting the west part of the state.

At that point, surges are set to at least double, with up to 20 feet possible in some areas.

Those regions, however, are slightly further north, and residents across the entire coast have been told to stay indoors

This fun-loving Floridian did not seem too deterred, taking to his already flooded city as Helene continued to barrel closer.

Helene’s 130mph winds have already generated storm surge in Tampa Bay, St. Petersburg, Fort Myers, Cedar Key, Apalachicola, and Clearwater Beach.

In Tampa Bay, along the East Bay, swells of 5.5 feet were spotted around 8pm.

In St Petersburg, tides were seen rising by as much as five feet. In coastal Fort Myers, coastal floods also measuring in at five feet were recorded.

Cedar Key and Apalachicola sported slightly smaller tidal surges, to the tune of four and 3.5 feet, respectively.

The tsunami-like torrent of rising water was more pronounced in Clearwater, with surges of five feet seen there as well.

Up to 20 feet of storm surge is possible further north in the Big Bend region, where Helene is set to hit tonight.

With Helene expected to make landfall in just a few hour, these surge values are set to increase.

The Lee County Sherriff’s Office in Fort Myers released multiple frightening videos Thursday night showing how floodwaters are there already.

The storm remains around 100 miles away.

After achieving Categroy-4 status, Hurrican Helene could be the strongest sorm to ever make landfall in Florida’s Big Bend region.

The area is where the Florida Panhandle meet the Florida Peninsula, south and east of Tallahassee.

As of writing, the storm is so close to city, that weather radar there has captured the hurricane’s entire eye.

Located several dozen miles inland, the location has been largely spared by Category-4 storms over the past century, with the last one striking in 1986.

That storm, however, was decidedly weakers, with 125mph winds compared to Helene’s current 130mph.

The last Category 4 hurricane to make landfall in the US was 2022’s Ian, which made landfall further south. The storm is set to hit in a matter of hours, with the Big Bend set to be its first mark.

Radar images show Helene’s lightning-filled eye as it moved within 100 miles of Florida.

The storm currently has sustained winds of 130mph, and is rapidly accelerating through the Gulf of Mexico.

Moving north-northeast at 23 mph, it will bring life-threatening storm surges of up to 20 feet to the Big Bend area in a matter of hours.

The storm is expected to become one of the ‘most aggressive’ in history, according to experts.

Hurricane Helene just strengthened into a Category 4 storm ahead of its expected landfall on Florida’s Gulf Coast.

The development occured early Thursday night, as forecasters warned the storm system could create severe storm surge in coastal areas.

Dangerous winds and rain are also poised to clam much of the southeastern US, after Helene strengthened into a Category 3 storm earlier Thursday,

This prompted hurricane and flash flood warnings to rextend from beyond the coast up into northern Georgia, and as far western North Carolina.

Winds have already cut power to over 320,000 homes and businesses across the Sunshine State, sputting the governors of Florida, Georgia, Alabama, both the Carolinas and Virginia to all declare emergencies.

The storm is expected to make landfall later this evening.

Taylor County Sheriff Wayne Padgett told NBC News that around 200 residents who are refusing to evacuate low-lying regions close to the coast could die.

‘If you’re just bound and determined to stay and not get out of harm’s way, go and take a black magic marker, write your name, your Social Security number, everything on your arm and we can identify you.

‘I don’t like telling people that, but it is going on. That’s a death threat because you’re looking at, they’re calling for 18- or 20- foot storm surge. We have never had a storm surge like this in this county.’

Hurricane Helene is set to make landfall as a Category 4 tropical storm around 7pm Thursday, with predicted wind speeds of up to 132mph.

DailyMail.com tracks its full trajectory below:

Florida Governor Brian Kemp has authorized 500 National Guardsmen to prepare for Hurricane Helene.

He told a press conference on Thursday that the storm is set to reach south Georgia by Thursday evening, scouring the state until it reaches the north through Friday morning.

A state of emergency was declared for all 159 counties in Georgia earlier this week in anticipation of the storm.

More than 114,000 households in Florida have lost power as Hurricane Helene closes in, according to PowerOutage.us.

The Category 3 storm has not yet made landfall, but the strong winds and rain it is bringing have downed power lines already.

More than 13,000 households have lost power in Georgia, and more than 20,000 in North Carolina.

A stranded jet-skier has been rescued from surging waters off the Florida coast amid Hurricane Helene.

Dramatic footage shows the moment first responders pull the struggling skier out of the water.

Helene has intensified to a Category 3 hurricane, with sustained winds of 120mph, according to the National Hurricane Center.

Category 3 storms are defined as those which bring ‘devastating damage’ to ‘well-built homes’, trees, and roads.

Electricity and water will likely be unavailable for several days to weeks after the storm passes in the impacted areas.

Helene is expected to generate even more strength before making landfall in Florida’s Big Bend on Thursday evening.

• The hurricane is now 195 miles southwest of Tampa, moving northeast at 16 mph

• People living in Florida and South Carolina have already started losing power
• In FL, there are 66,800 households without electricity
• And there are 11,000 without power in SC
• These numbers are expected to grow as Helene attacks tonight

Waves are seen impacting a house seawall in Eastpoint, Florida, as Hurricane Helene intensifies before its expected landfall on the Big Bend.

• Helene is on the brink of being named a major hurricane, the National Hurricane Center said in an update at 1:48pm EST
• The storm has strengthened even more before hitting Florida’s Big Bend
• The NHC said: ‘Preparations to protect life and property should be rushed to completion’

The National Weather Service for Greenville-Spartanburg, South Carolina, issued an urgent warning on Thursday afternoon.

They said: ‘This will be one of the most significant weather events to happen in the western portions of the area in the modern era.

‘Record flooding is forecasted and has been compared to the floods of 1916 in the Asheville area.

‘We plead with everyone that you take every single weather warning very seriously through the entirety of this event as impacts will be life-threatening and make sure to have multiple ways to receive the alerts.’

Business owners in Mayo, Florida – between Tallahassee and Jacksonville – are seen covering the windows of shops with plywood ahead of the chaos.

• As of 2pm EST, nearly 20,000 flights have been delayed across the country
• More than 1,600 flights have been canceled ahead of the hurricane
• Tampa Airport is the most affected hub – followed by Hartsfield-Jackson in Atlanta, Southwest Florida in Fort Myers, and Miami Airport

Local residents in Tallahassee have evacuated their homes ahead of landfall.

Families, including young children and the elderly, are seen inside a hurricane evacuation shelter at Fairview Middle School in Leon County.

The locals wrapped themselves in blankets – with their most important belongings by their sides – ahead of what is expected to be a catastrophic few days in the Panhandle.

Hurricanes are measured from 1 to 5 based on their wind speed – with five being the strongest.

While Hurricane Helene is currently a Category 2 storm, with wind speeds of 100 mph, it is expected to grow into a devastating Category 4 storm.

The National Hurricane Center says that during a Category 4 storm, ‘a high percentage of framed homes will be destroyed, with total roof failure and wall collapse.’

• Deanne Criswell, FEMA’s director, said that the hurricane’s force on the Florida city of Tallahassee will be ‘deadly’
• She told a White House briefing: ‘This is going to be a multi-state event with the potential for significant impacts from Florida all the way to Tennessee’
• Criswell said the decisions residents make now ‘can save lives’

NASA is tracking the hurricane as it makes its way to Florida – and provided a bird’s-eye view of the weather front.

Footage from 260 miles above the earth showed the hurricane’s movements.

Locals in Key West, Florida, and St Pete’s Beach, Florida, are caught in crashing waves ahead of Helene’s landfall.

The devastating storm is expected to hit the Sunshine State this evening.

• Hurricane Helene is expected to make landfall on Florida’s Big Bend Thursday evening, where inundation could reach as high as 20 feet above ground level, according to the National Hurricane Center.
• Also on Thursday evening, ‘hurricane-force winds’ are projected to penetrate well inland over portions of northern Florida and southern Georgia, with ‘strong winds’ across the Carolinas, especially the higher terrain of the southern Appalachians.
• ‘Catastrophic and life-threatening urban flooding’ is expected to cause landslides across the southern Appalachians and in northern Florida on Friday.

A Waffle House in Tallahassee has closed its doors as Hurricane Helene approaches Florida – a sign the storm is getting serious.

The restaurant chain has a reputation for staying open during extreme weather events, so store closures are key indications of the chaos to come.

‘We plan to open as soon as the storm passes,’ a sign on one outlet reads.

The tropical storm is expected to make landfall Thursday evening.

Florida’s State Fire Marshal Jimmy Patronis has warned anyone choosing to stay at home and weather the storm to let loved ones know their plans.

‘The storm surge from this storm is going to be unlike anything the state has seen for over a decade,’ he said in a video message to the public.

‘Please err on the side of caution – if you have not notified a loved one that you are staying put and not evacuating, please do so.

‘As communications and power might get impaired, we need to have some knowledge of where we should be sending our resources after the storm passes and it’s safe to resume search and rescue operations.’

Residents of the storm-ravaged Sunshine State are scrambling to prepare for the hell Hurricane Helene is about to unleash in southern Florida.

While thousands have left their homes for safer shelter, others are bunkering down with supplies in the hopes of weathering the storm.

Shocking footage shows huge waves hurtling towards Howard Frankland Bridge, which links Tampa to St Petersburg and Clearwater via Old Tampa Bay.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has warned residents to escape to a safe place as soon as possible as Hurricane Helene barrels in.

‘The storm is going to make landfall this evening,’ DeSantis warned. ‘It will likely be dark by the time storm passes.

‘Do not try to do any work in the dark. You don’t know what hazards are out there.

‘There’s going to be debris, there’s going to potentially be, in some parts, standing water.

‘That is difficult to navigate as it is, but to be doing that in the dark of night is hazardous.’

DeSantis added that ‘parts of our state are starting to feel the effects’ of the hurricane already – while urging those further north to get to a safe shelter ‘now’ while they ‘still have time’.

The tropical storm has continued to intensify through Thursday – reaching maximum sustained wind strengths of 105mph – just 6mph away from the minimum threshold for a Category 3 hurricane.

Helene is centered 255 miles southwest of Tampa, moving north-east at a speed of 14mph, according to the National Hurricane Center.

It is projected to accelerate through the day and make landfall with the Florida coastline by the evening as a Category 3 or Category 4 hurricane.

Thousands of flights have been canceled or delayed as Hurricane Helene moves towards Florida from the Gulf of Mexico.

The worst-hit airport is Tampa International, where 87 percent of flights have been canceled, followed by Southwest Florida International, where the figure currently sits at 77 percent, according to FlightAware.

Some 21,491 flights have been delayed across the US on Thursday alone, with a further 2,987 canceled, per the flight tracking website.

Tropical storm Helene is projected to be even more devastating than Hurricane Idalia, the Category 4 hurricane which tore through northern Florida in late August 2023.

Idalia also wreaked havoc in Georgia and the Carolinas as it de-intensified to storm level.

Pinellas County officials have released a concerning graphic showing how much worse Helene is likely to be.

Idalia’s storm surge in St Petersburg flooded 1,500 homes and maxed out at four feet – depicted by the blue line. Helene’s forecast for the same city is projected to be double the size at eight feet.

The National Weather Service in Tallahassee described the storm surge threat for Apalachee Bay as ‘catastrophic and/or potentially unsurvivable’ in a dramatic update.

‘There is increasing confidence of catastrophic and /or potentially unsurvivable storm surge for Apalachee Bay,’ the service said.

‘Walt Disney World Resort is currently operating under normal conditions; however, some experiences will be canceled or unavailable on September 26,’ the Florida resort said in a statement. ‘We are closely monitoring the path of the storm as we continue to prioritize the safety of our Guests and Cast Members.’

Shuttered attractions include the water park, mini golf, and pools at Disney Resort Hotels.

Florida medics are sleeping over at hospitals to make sure they can reach their patients if Hurricane Helene cuts off crucial transport links.

One doctor in St Petersburg, Tampa Bay, shared her preparations via TikTok – starting by unraveling her emergency fold-out bed and blankets in an office room.

‘I’m going to be locked in for the next day and a half making sure that patients in this area are able to get the care that they need if they do get sick,’ she explained.

The tropical storm strengthened to a Category 2 hurricane Thursday morning, the National Hurricane Center said.

Wind speeds have now reached a sustained 100mph with some higher gusts.

Helene is projected to intensify throughout Thursday before making landfall in Florida later in the afternoon.

Watch the tropical storm unfold from Tampa, Florida, via livestream as it gains strength through Thursday morning.

Helene was pelting Mexico’s Caribbean coastal resorts from Cozumel to Cancun with rain, high waves and strong winds early Wednesday – a sign of things to come for many residents in Florida’s coastal regions.

Mara Lezama, the governor of the coastal state of Quintana Roo, shared photos of downed trees and rain-swept streets.

Videos showed the normally placid, turquoise waters off the island of Cozumel being whipped into angry waves that broke over the seawall of the coastal boulevard.

In Cancun, one woman posted a video in which she described the weather as a ‘monsoon’ and described the beach as ‘gone’.

‘I’m out of towels. My bed is now an island,’ she added.

Heavy waves have also threatened to worsen the resort’s ongoing problem with beach erosion.

John Dailey, the mayor of Tallahassee, Florida’s capital city that is in the direct path of Helene, has said the hurricane could be the strongest storm to ever make a direct hit on his city.

Helene could produce ‘unprecedented damage like nothing we have ever experienced before as a community,’ Dailey told reporters on Wednesday.

Marc Weinberg, Chief Meteorologist at WDRB in Louisville, KY, has shared footage of the aftermath of a 19-foot storm surge following Hurricane Michael in 2018.

‘You can see why the word “unsurvivable” is being used to describe the potential surge from Helene,’ he writes on X.

The storm surge caused by Helene is predicted to reach 20 feet in some coastal regions.

The National Hurricane Center has released this map showing the earliest reasonable arrival time of tropical storm winds.

Southern parts of Florida could see such winds as early as 8 a.m. CDT on Thursday, according to the map.

As MLB games have been delayed, so too have NASA missions, with the space agency saying it has pushed back the launch of its Crew-9 mission with SpaceX due to the in-coming storm.

SpaceX’s upcoming Crew Dragon mission, a routine flight called Crew-9, is expected to send one NASA astronaut and a Russian cosmonaut to the International Space Station.

Although Helene is moving through the Gulf of Mexico and expected to impact the northwest of region of Florida, it is large enough that high winds and heavy rain are expected in the Cape Canaveral region, from where the mission is set to be launched.

The Crew-9 mission was originally stated to be launched no earlier than August 18, but was pushed back a month to spend more time analyzing issues with Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft, which remains docked at the station.

NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov are to launch aboard the Dragon spacecraft to the ISS, on what will be the ninth crew rotation mission with SpaceX under the space agency’s Commercial Crew Program.

Energy facilities along the US Gulf Coast scaled back operations and evacuated some production sites as Hurricane Helene is expected to bring catastrophic winds and storm surges to the northeastern Gulf Coast.

About 29 per cent of crude production and 17 per cent of natural gas output in the US Gulf of Mexico have been shut in response to Helene, the US Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement said Wednesday.

Offshore production in the US Gulf of Mexico accounts for approximately 1.8 million barrels per day or about 15 per cent of the nation’s total crude output.

Disruptions have the potential to affect US oil supplies, leading to upward pressure on prices for domestic oil and offshore crude grades.

Gov. Henry McMaster declared a state of emergency in South Carolina yesterday.

He said Hurricane Helene is going to be a dangerous storm even as the state avoids the brunt of the impacts.

Wednesday’s declaration allows the state to put in place emergency plans to coordinate between agencies and the federal government and opens the doors for counties and local governments to request assistance.

The coast and much of the western half of South Carolina is expecting tropical storm-force winds; a flash flood watch is also in effect.

Parts of the mountains in extreme northern South Carolina could see up to 15 inches of rain, the National Weather Service said.

‘Although South Carolina will likely avoid the brunt of Hurricane Helene’s impacts, the storm is still expected to bring dangerous flooding, high winds, and isolated tornadoes to many parts of the state,’ McMaster said in a statement.

Several agencies, including the National Weather Service (NWS), are warning of a storm surge. But what exactly does that mean?

Storm Surges occur when powerful winds push water onshore, causing a rise in water levels – and therefore flooding in coastal areas.

Heavy rains and large waves can add to the build up of water.

The NWS has released a diagram demonstrating storm surge levels, showing that a 12-foot storm surge can reach the second floor of many buildings.

The Weather Channel has warned that Helene’s storm surge is expected to reach up to 20 feet in some areas.

The National Hurricane Center’s Storm Surge Unit has urged residents along the west coast of the Florida Peninsula and Florida Big Bend to follow orders to evacuate, warning that the storm surge will be ‘life-threatening’.

Major League Baseball has announced the postponement of the scheduled games between the Atlanta Braves and the New York Mets at Truist Park in Atlanta.

The teams were set to play on Wednesday and Thursday nights, but have been pushed back to a doubleheader on Monday, September 30 due to the weather.

The first game will begin at 1.10pm ET and the second will start 40 minutes after the last out in the first game, the statement said.

‘To all of our fans throughout Braves Country that will be impacted by Hurricane Helene, please stay safe,’ The Braves wrote on X.

Helene has left a trail of destruction en route to the United States.

It swamped parts of Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula on Wednesday, flooding streets and toppling trees as it passed offshore and brushed the resort city of Cancun.

The storm formed Tuesday in the Caribbean Sea.

In Cuba, the government preventively shut off power in some communities as waves as high as 16 feet slammed Cortes Bay.

In the Cayman Islands, schools closed and residents pumped water from flooded homes.

Helene is expected to be a major hurricane – meaning a Category 3 or higher – when it makes landfall tonight.

As Helene strengthens, forecaster warn that Tropical Storm Isaac – which formed yesterday in the Atlantic – is expected to strengthen as it moves eastward across the open ocean, possibly becoming a hurricane by the end of the week.

In the Pacific, former Hurricane John reformed Wednesday as a tropical storm and was strengthening as it threatened areas of Mexico’s western coast. Officials posted hurricane warnings for southwestern Mexico.

John hit the country’s southern Pacific coast late Monday, killing at least two people, triggering mudslides, and damaging homes and trees. It grew into a Category 3 hurricane in a matter of hours and made landfall east of Acapulco. It reemerged over the ocean after weakening inland.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has urged residents to ‘not get wedded to the “cone”‘ – warning that ‘hazards such as tornados, flooding, and storm surge can create dangerous conditions far beyond the cone.’

In other words, he has warned people against assuming they are safe just because their home or business is not in the direct path of the storm – or the ‘cone’ shown on weather maps.

Residents should also check official warnings issue over other hazards.

Hurricane Helene is expected to make landfall in Florida on Thursday evening.

Of the state’s 67 counties, 61 are under a state of emergency, DeSantis said. Mandatory evacuations are in effect in parts of at least 20 counties.

Officials have issued dire warnings, pleading with residents in coastal areas along the hurricane’s path to evacuate ahead of catastrophic winds and a potentially deadly storm surge (the wall of seawater pushed on land by hurricane-force winds), that could rise to 20 feet (6.1 meters) in some spots.

‘This is not a survivable event for those in coastal or low- lying areas,’ said Jared Miller, the sheriff of Wakulla County, where Helene is forecast to make landfall. ‘Please heed the evacuation orders in place as time is running out to do so.’

Helene roared across the Gulf of Mexico, picking up power from the warm ocean water. It is forecast to make landfall in Florida’s panhandle Thursday evening, packing sustained wind speeds of up to 156 miles per hour, forecasters said.

‘For those in the path, that unfortunately means catastrophic wind impacts,’ National Hurricane Center Deputy Director Jamie Rhome said.

Reported by Reuters

Hurricane Helene is set to strike Florida’s Gulf Coast within hours, threatening an ‘unsurvivable’ storm surge that would leave catastrophic damage and could deluge cities and swallow homes.

Helene could roar ashore as a Category 4 hurricane by tonight, with wind speeds of up to 130mph after spending days strengthening in the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico, the National Hurricane Center warned.

Forecasters predict Helene could bring storm surges of up to 20 feet (6 meters) and warned they could be particularly ‘catastrophic and life-threatening’ in Florida’s Apalachee Bay. Governor Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency ahead of the storm’s arrival.

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Hello and welcome to DailyMail.com’s live coverage of Hurricane Helene as it fast approaches Florida.

The National Hurricane Center warned Helene is likely to reach Category 4 when it makes landfall after strengthening in the Gulf of Mexico.

Governor Ron DeSantis has declared a state of emergency ahead of the storm’s arrival as forecasters predict storm surges of up to 20 feet (6 meters).

State officials say the damage could be unprecedented and catastrophic with residents scrambling to reach higher ground.

Stick with our coverage as we track Helene’s movements and bring you the latest developments on the ground in Flordia.