TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Helene became a hurricane Wednesday after rapidly strengthening in the Caribbean Sea and moved north along Mexico’s coast on a path toward the U.S.
, leading residents to evacuate, schools to close, and officials to declare emergencies in Florida and Georgia. The storm’s center was near Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula on Wednesday, the U.S.
National Hurricane Center said, and it was expected as it crosses the Gulf of Mexico. Heavy rainfall was forecast for the southeastern U.S.
starting Wednesday, with a life-threatening storm surge along the entire west coast of Florida, according to the center. The storm is so large that rural areas roughly 90 miles (145 kilometers) north of the Georgia-Florida line are under a hurricane warning. And states as far inland as Tennessee, Kentucky and Indiana could see rainfall.
“You are going to have a major hurricane plowing inland, and storms take a little time to decay once they’re inland,” 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, expanding across Florida and into Georgia and South Carolina. Helene is expected to become a major hurricane — a Category 3 or higher, with winds above 110 mph (177 kph) — on Thursday, the day it’s set to reach Florida’s Gulf Coast, according to the hurricane center.
The center issued hurricane.
