Helene prompts Hurricane Warnings in Florida as evacuation orders mount

TAMPA, Fla. – Hurricane Warnings and Storm Surge Warnings are in effect in Florida as Tropical Storm Helene is forecast to become a major hurricane, bringing a potential for deadly storm surge, flooding rain and destructive hurricane-force winds.The National Hurricane Center says there is danger of life-threatening storm surge along the entire west coast of the Florida Peninsula and Big Bend, with the highest water levels – as much as 15 feet above dry land – expected in the Big Bend area as the storm comes ashore late Thursday. Tampa Bay could see 5-8 feet of storm surge inundation under current forecasts. Mandatory evacuation orders are in effect for swaths of Florida’s Gulf Coast, from the Panhandle, across the Big Bend and into Southwest Florida. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis issued an executive order Tuesday declaring a state of emergency for 61 of the state’s 67 counties to help agencies prepare for the incoming storm.HOW TO WATCH FOX WEATHERHelene has maximum sustained winds that have ramped up to at least 60 mph with higher gusts, according to the NHC’s Tuesday evening update. The system is moving northwest, and that general motion is expected into Tuesday night, followed by a faster northward to north-northeastward motion on Wednesday and Thursday.Helene is expected to rapidly intensify as it moves over the eastern Gulf of Mexico and become a major hurricane, defined as winds of at least 115 mph, as it approaches the northeastern Gulf Coast on Thursday. The current 115 mph peak intensity forecast would rate the storm a Category 3 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Scale.A Hurricane Warning has been issued from Anclote River to Mexico Beach, Florida, where damaging hurricane-force winds are expected later Thursday. The NHC is urging those in the warning areas to complete any preparations by early Thursday morning.Tropical Storm Warnings are in effect for the Middle Florida Keys to the Channel 5 Bridge, and for the Gulf coast of Florida from Flamingo northward to Anclote River, including Tampa Bay, and west of Mexico Beach to the Walton and Bay County line.WHAT TO DO WHEN HURRICANE OR TROPICAL STORM WATCHES AND WARNINGS ARE ISSUED FOR YOUR TOWNHelene is expected to be a large hurricane in size – perhaps ranking among the 90% percentile among typical hurricanes of the area, according to the NHC.”Therefore storm surge, wind, and rainfall impacts will likely extend well away from the center and outside the forecast cone, particularly on the east side,” NHC forecasters said Tuesday.  National Hurricane Center Deputy Director Jamie Rhome says Helene will be unique for its large size and the intensification it’s expected to undergo over the next 24 hours. “A lot of people wrongly use the current intensity, how it looks currently in satellite imagery, as their overall indicator of risk, not what the storm will be when it moves ashore or moves into their community, but how it looks right now,” Rhome told FOX Weather. With the large storm size and track, life-threatening storm surge is possible. Water could reach 10-15 feet above dry level if the surge comes in at high tide between the Ochlockonee River and Chassahowitzka along Florida’s Big Bend, according to the NHC. But storm surge of varying heights is expected all along the entire west coast of Florida, with higher levels expected the closer you get to the Helene’s eventual landfall. WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A TROPICAL DEPRESSION, TROPICAL STORM AND HURRICANE?Torrential rains from Helene will bring “considerable” flash and urban flooding across the Southeast, according to the NHC, with accumulations of 4 to 8 inches and isolated totals around 12 inches. Significant river flooding is also a risk. As future Hurricane Helene sets its sights on Florida, residents have been busy preparing for the storm as state and local officials begin to issue mandatory evacuation orders and declare states of emergency.But Helene isn’t just expected to cause problems for Florida. Tropical-storm-force winds could cause power outages across the Southeast as Helene moves farther inland. On Tuesday, President Joe Biden approved federal assistance for Georgia and Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp declared a state of emergency.Helene will also be a rainmaker for the Southeast. “The other unique thing about big storms is they can hang on to that momentum and carry that momentum farther inland, both the wind and in this case, the rain,” Rhome said in front of a map showing expected impacts across the Southeast. “Look how far inland it reaches, all the way up into Atlanta, to upstate South Carolina and possibly even western North Carolina could feel significant impacts from this system down the line.”WATCH: HURRICANE ERNESTO’S SWELL CAUSES NORTH CAROLINA HOUSE TO COLLAPSE INTO OCEANNational Weather Service offices across the South and Southeast launched an extra weather balloon early Tuesday morning, gathering extra atmospheric data. The balloons measure temperature, dew point, relative humidity, atmospheric pressure and wind direction and speed and reach as high as 20 miles above the ground until it pops.By launching more balloons, meteorologists and the computers that generate our forecast models can obtain updated real-time weather data from the upper atmosphere, which is crucial to the accuracy of model projections. The NWS is asking 18 of its offices in the region to continue doubling their balloon launches to every 6 hours instead of every 12 hours throughout the week as Helene approaches the U.S.