Important Takeaways:

• Hurricane Helene continues to strengthen and is now a Category 2 hurricane with winds of 100 mph. The National Hurricane Center says Helene will likely become a major Category 3 hurricane when it makes landfall along Florida’s Big Bend region late Thursday night or early Friday morning.
• Nearly the entire state of Florida is under some sort of tropical weather alert, with Tropical Storm Warnings extending hundreds of miles inland into Georgia and the Carolinas, including Atlanta.
• The National Hurricane Center (NHC) says that because of Hurricane Helene’s massive size, there is a significant risk of a life-threatening storm surge along the entire west coast of the Florida Peninsula, as well as Florida’s Big Bend region.
• “A catastrophic and deadly storm surge is likely along portions of the Florida Big Bend coast, where inundation could reach as high as 20 feet above ground level, along with destructive waves,” the NHC warned.
• Earlier this week, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis issued an executive order declaring a state of emergency for 61 of the state’s 67 counties to help agencies prepare for the storm.

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