The once Potential Tropical Cyclone 9 has now been upgraded and named to Tropical Storm Helene and is predicted to turn into a category 1 hurricane Tuesday night and increase to a category 3 (or 4) hurricane Thursday.
Helene is moving at 12 mph and currently has winds at 45 mph. Helene is located about 180 miles east-southeast of Cozumel, Mexico and is expected to move northwest, then bend toward the north-northeast. The center of the storm is projected to hit the north coast of Florida spanning from the Panhandle and Big Bend regions.
Hurricane warnings/watches and storm surge warnings, along with a state of emergency has been issued for 61 Florida counties.
Governor Ron DeSantis urges everyone on the west and north coasts to prepare. DeSantis said, “There’s a lot of uncertainty with this storm. But the one thing that is certain is we are gonna see some impacts… You could have impacts that are outside of where the current cone is. And in fact, we anticipate there to be impacts beyond the current cone.”
In preparation ahead of the storm, 3,000 Florida National Guard soldiers are ready to assist with search and rescue as well as route clearing operations, and over 18,000 linemen are ready to respond to power outages. Florida’s Division of Emergency Management will have high water vehicles, tarps, generators, and additional first responders to areas that are expected to get worse impacts.
By - FZ
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