Hurricane Helene is barreling through the Gulf of Mexico and is expected to make landfall in Florida tonight as a Category 4 storm.
AccuWeather is reporting storm surges between one and three feet are expected from the Florida Keys to Mobile, Alabama, with levels approaching as much as 15 to 20 feet along a 150-mile corridor of the coast from near Apalachicola through Crystal River.
“This can be a large hurricane with life-threatening impacts such as storm surge and flooding rain hundreds of miles away from where the storm makes landfall,” said AccuWeather Chief Meteorologist Jonathan Porter.
NBC News reported a state of emergency was declared in 61 of the Florida’s 67 counties. Shortly before 3:15 p.m. EDT, 107,076 customers in Florida were without power.
While the storm is expected to weaken after it makes landfall, it is forecast to continue its path with substantial rain falling across the Southeast and into the mountains of the southern Applachians.
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