Hurricane Helene: Storm reaches Category 1

Tropical Storm Helene became a Category 1 hurricane Wednesday morning and was expected to get stronger as it moved towards Florida.

Tampa airport to shut down before hurricane’s landfall

Update 1:57 p.m. ET Sept. 25: Tampa International Airport will suspend operations Thursday before Hurricane Helene is expected to make landfall, The Associated Press reported. All commercial and cargo operations will be halted at 2 a.m. and will remain that way until damage can be assessed.

Hurricane Helene is expected to be the strongest hurricane to make landfall in the U.S. in more than a year, CNN reported. It will be the fourth to make landfall in 2024 and the fifth to hit Florida since 2022.

Meanwhile, more than 30 counties in Georgia are under a hurricane warning. some are about 100 miles north of the Florida-Georgia line. In Florida, at least 24 counties are under evacuation orders - either voluntary or mandatory. Some of the orders depend on what zone people are located in.

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper already issued a State of Emergency as the state prepared for any severe weather produced by Hurricane Helene. The declaration is effective through Saturday morning, the AP reported.

Flooding will come with storm: NWS

Update 12:39 p.m. ET Sept. 25: The National Weather Service said that up to 15 inches of rain may fall in the mountains of North Carolina, Georgia and South Carolina and bring with it flooding, The Associated Press reported.

The weather service likened the impact to that of 2021′s Tropical Storm Fred which killed six people and damaged nearly 1,00 homes.

Original report: The National Hurricane Center said the storm was “expected to bring life-threatening storm surge” along with strong winds and flooding in not only Florida but also most of the Southeastern U.S.

It neared hurricane strength through the morning on Wednesday as it was just off the coast of the Yucatan Peninsula, the National Hurricane Center said.

Several counties in Florida were already under evacuation orders before the storm reached hurricane strength, The Associated Press reported.

Gas stations in the Tallahassee area were running out of gas earlier in the week and supermarkets in the region were running out of store staples such as water and other supplies.

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