Miami.- Tropical Storm Helene strengthened into a hurricane on Wednesday after rapidly intensifying in the Caribbean Sea and moving along the Mexican coast on its way to the United States, prompting evacuations, school closures and emergency declarations in Florida and Georgia by authorities.
The storm was centered near Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula on Monday, the National Hurricane Center said, and was expected to strengthen and grow as it crossed the Gulf of Mexico.
Heavy rain was forecast for the southeastern United States beginning Wednesday, with a potentially deadly storm surge along the entire Florida coast, the agency said. The storm is so powerful that rural areas about 35 miles (55 km) north of the Georgia-Florida line are under a hurricane watch, and rain could occur as far away as Tennessee, Kentucky and Indiana.
“You’ll get heavy rainfall inland from the hurricane, and it will take some time for the storms to subside once they’re in the area,” said Brian McNoldy, an environmental researcher at the University of Miami.
Forecasters warned of possible tornadoes Wednesday night in western Florida and southern Alabama and said the tornado risk would increase Thursday, spreading across Florida and into Georgia and South Carolina. The center issued hurricane watches for parts of Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula and Florida’s northwest coast, where storm surges of up to 15 feet are expected. Helene is expected to become a Category 3 or stronger hurricane Thursday with winds of more than 110 mph when it is expected to hit Florida’s Gulf Coast, the NHC said. Will Marx took shelter Wednesday in his double-wide mobile home 13 miles inland in Crawfordville, Florida. The 64-year-old retiree put more jugs of water in his refrigerator as he watched people moving boats and RVs out of the storm’s projected path. “I guess we’ll know tomorrow,” he said. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who had already declared a state of emergency in most counties, said Wednesday that 12 health care facilities had been evacuated. He urged people to prepare immediately. Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp also declared a state of emergency in his state. The hurricane warning area includes Valdosta, a city of 55,000. Helene is coming just a year after Hurricane Idalia caused more than $6 million in damage to 1,000 homes and other property. In western Cuba, authorities moved livestock to higher ground and seven medical brigades were sent to communities often cut off by storms. Helene was expected to bring heavy rains to the western part of the island, which is struggling with severe water shortages and chronic power outages.
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