Hurricane Helene has intensified into a Category 3 storm, prompting mandatory evacuations in Florida’s Big Bend region, with life-threatening storm surges and flooding expected, and potential further strengthening to Category 4 or 5 before landfall.

Hurricane Helene intensified into a Category 3 storm on Thursday afternoon, with maximum sustained winds of 120 mph. As it approached Florida’s Big Bend coast, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) issued warnings of life-threatening storm surges, severe flooding, and extreme winds. Landfall is expected later this evening.

In response to the storm’s escalation, authorities have ordered mandatory evacuations for coastal residents. The National Weather Service (NWS) is predicting storm surges of 15 to 20 feet above normal tide levels in parts of the Big Bend region—enough to submerge vehicles and flood entire homes.

AccuWeather projects that Helene could intensify further, potentially reaching Category 4 by landfall, with maximum sustained winds between 131 and 155 mph on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale.

“We expect Helene to make landfall as a destructive Category 4 hurricane in the Apalachicola area, between Mexico Beach and Horseshoe Beach,” said Bernie Rayno, Chief Video Meteorologist for AccuWeather.

Dan DePodwin, AccuWeather’s Senior Director of Forecasting Operations warned that “Helene could achieve Category 5 strength before landfall, with maximum sustained winds of 156 mph or greater,” if conditions align.

As of 1 p.m., Helene was located 195 miles southwest of Tampa, moving north-northeast at 16 mph and 230 miles south of Apalachicola.

Heavy rainfall linked to Helene has already triggered localized flooding in some areas ahead of its landfall. Forecasters with the NHC report that rainfall amounts are exceeding initial projections, heightening the risk of widespread flooding across the Southeast. The storm’s impact is expected to extend beyond Florida, with warnings issued for Georgia, the Carolinas, and Tennessee.

Helene’s hurricane-force winds extend up to 60 miles from its center, while tropical-storm-force winds reach as far as 345 miles. Due to the storm’s expansive wind field, tropical storm warnings have been issued as far north as North Carolina, with effects likely to spread into the southern Appalachian region in the coming days.

Rainfall totals are expected to reach 6 to 12 inches across parts of the Southeast, with isolated areas receiving up to 20 inches.