(CNN) — If you haven’t prepared already, the time is here. Hurricane Helene is expected to make landfall Thursday night along the Florida Gulf Coast near Tallahassee and then veer north, maintaining hurricane- and tropical storm-force winds and torrential rainfall into North Georgia and up to Tennessee. Up to 18 inches of rain is expected into the Carolinas, the National Weather Service said Thursday .
About 40 million Americans are living under direct hurricane or tropical storm warnings across five states, according to CNN Supervising Meteorologist Brandon Miller. Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Please enable it in your browser settings.
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