Hurricane Helene has been rapidly strengthening as it moves north across the Gulf of Mexico toward the United States. It is expected to be one of the most dangerous storms to hit the Florida coast in recent history.

Helene strengthened as the hurricane moved over deep, warm water, intensifying further on Thursday, the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) reported.

According to the NHC, heavy rainfall was forecast for the southeastern US, with “life-threatening storm surge” along the entire west coast of Florida.

“Catastrophic and deadly storm surge is likely along portions of the Florida Big Bend coast,” the NHC said, predicting that surges in Apalachee Bay could reach as high as 6 meters (20 feet).

“As someone who has made these predictions, I can assure you that the folks at NHC are not making these changes lightly. This is the biggest thing ever,” Michael Lowry, a hurricane specialist and storm surge expert at the local TV weatherman in Miami, wrote on social media.

Helene is expected to be one of the largest storms to hit the region in years, said Colorado State University hurricane researcher Phil Klotzbach. He said that since 1988, only three Gulf hurricanes have been larger than Helene’s predicted size: Irma in 2017, Wilma in 2005 and Opal in 1995.

Hurricane-force winds extend up to 95 kilometers (60 miles) from the center, while gale-force winds can reach up to 555 kilometers (345 miles). U.S. states as far inland as Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky and Indiana could get rain.

“Just hope and pray that everybody’s safe,” said Connie Dillard, as she shopped for bread and water at a supermarket with thinner shelves before hitting the interstate out of Tallahassee, the Florida state capital that lies directly in the storm’s path. “That’s all you can do.”

Airports in St. Petersburg, Tallahassee and Tampa were scheduled to close on Thursday, and 62 hospitals and nursing homes evacuated their residents on Wednesday.

#Helene is expected to make landfall tomorrow as a large #hurricane in Florida’s Big Bend. It would be the 4th hurricane to make landfall on the Gulf Coast in 2024. Only 5 other years (since 1851) have had 4+ hurricanes make landfall on the Gulf Coast: 1886, 1909, 1985, 2005, 2020. photo.twitter.com/tGtWjWuNAM

— Philip Klotzbach (@philklotzbach) September 25, 2024

Expectation that category 3 will be reached

The only good news was that the storm was downgraded to a Category 3 wind as it moved inland, with winds of up to 120 mph (193 km/h), instead of the higher Category 4 winds of 130 mph (209 km/h) that had been forecast on Wednesday.

On Thursday morning, Helene was about 290 miles (470 km) south of Apalachicola, on the coast of Florida’s Big Bend region. The hurricane was moving north at 12 mph (19 km/h) with maximum sustained winds of 103 mph (165 km/h), making it a Category 2 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has issued an emergency warning for most of the state’s counties. About 18,000 power line workers are on standby to restore power as soon as it is safe to enter the area, and 3,000 U.S. National Guard members are on standby to help with the storm’s aftermath, officials said.

Federal authorities were positioning generators, food and water, along with search and rescue teams and power restoration crews, the White House said.

Some residents along the Gulf Coast in Florida’s Panhandle have been evacuated to safer areas inland, with recent storm surges still fresh in their memories.

In 2018, Hurricane Michael struck the city of Mexico Beach, Florida, about 100 miles (160 km) west of where Helene is expected to make landfall. Michael quickly intensified into a devastating Category 5 hurricane, taking residents by surprise and causing an estimated $25.5 billion in damage and 59 deaths.

In 2023, another Category 3 storm, Hurricane Idalia, left as many as 500,000 customers without power after it struck Florida’s northwest coast, also causing extensive water damage from storm surge. Idalia was the strongest hurricane to hit Florida’s Big Bend region since 1950.

Meanwhile, Hurricane John rebounded off Mexico’s Pacific coast on Thursday after wreaking havoc earlier in the week, killing two people, blowing corrugated roofs off homes, triggering mudslides and toppling trees, officials said.

John weakened to a tropical depression after making landfall Monday night, but then restrengthened. The storm is expected to make landfall again in the Mexican state of Guerrero, north of Acapulco.

Helene is the eighth named storm of the current Atlantic hurricane season, which runs from June 1 to November 30, and the fourth to make landfall in the U.S. Hurricane Francine struck the Louisiana Gulf Coast as a Category 2 storm just two weeks ago.

Since 2000, there have only been three other years, other than 2024, in which four or more storms made landfall on the continental U.S.

This year’s hurricane season coincides with a homeowners insurance crisis in several U.S. states, caused by rising rates and a reluctance by private insurers to provide coverage in coastal areas.

The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicted an above-average Atlantic hurricane season this year due to record-breaking warm ocean temperatures. It predicted 17 to 25 named storms, with four to seven major hurricanes of Category 3 or higher.

But the season got off to a slow start, leaving meteorologists searching for factors that could hinder the formation of large storms as they crossed the Atlantic Ocean’s “hurricane corridor.”