Helene upgraded to Category 2 hurricane as it barrels toward Florida

Tallahassee: Fast-moving Hurricane Helene was advancing Thursday across the Gulf of Mexico toward Florida, threatening an “unsurvivable” storm surge in northwestern parts of the state as well as damaging winds, rains and flash floods hundreds of miles inland across much of the southeastern US, forecasters said.

Helene was upgraded Thursday morning to a Category 2 storm and is expected to be a major hurricane — meaning a Category 3 or higher — when it makes landfall on Florida’s northwestern coast Thursday evening.

As of early Thursday, hurricane warnings and flash flood warnings extended far beyond the coast up into south-central Georgia.

The governors of Florida, Georgia, and the Carolinas have all declared emergencies in their states.

The storm was expected to make landfall in the Big Bend region, where Florida’s panhandle and peninsula meet, according to Jack Beven, senior hurricane specialist at the National Hurricane Centre in Miami.

“Regardless of how strong it is, it is a very large storm, Beven said. “It’s going to have impacts that cover a large area.”