Helene strengthened into a hurricane Wednesday, and forecasters warned that the storm would intensify as it crosses the Gulf of Mexico on a path to Florida. The storm had already prompted residents to evacuate, schools to close and officials to declare emergencies in Florida and Georgia.

The hurricane was about 500 miles southwest of Tampa, Florida, and had sustained winds of 80 mph, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center. Forecasters said it is expected to become a major hurricane with its center making landfall in the Big Bend area of Florida’s northwestern coast as soon as late Thursday.

The center has issued hurricane warnings for part of Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula and Florida’s northwestern coastline, where large storm surges of up to 15 feet were expected.

Meanwhile, Tropical Storm John is expected to strengthen into a hurricane again, threatening areas of Mexico's western coast anew.

Florida residents in Helene’s path decide whether to evacuate or shelter in place

CRAWFORDVILLE, Fla. — As officials warn that Hurricane Helene is projected to pound Florida’s Big Bend with life-threatening storm surge, residents in coastal Wakulla County are under a countywide mandatory evacuation order. But it doesn’t mean they’ll all leave.

Shelby Hill made a stop at a Walmart in the city of Crawfordville with her husband and three kids Wednesday afternoon to pick up the fixings for a chicken enchilada casserole – some comfort food to ease their nerves.

“You can feel the energy. Everybody’s moving,” Hill said. “You can tell everybody’s actually really nervous and wants to be prepared.”

Hill said her family will soon be hitting the road to stay the night with her in-laws in the next county to the north, Leon County. After that, they plan to continue on to Georgia, in the hopes of outrunning the worst of Helene.

A couple aisles over in the frozen food section, Christine Nazworth said she considered evacuating her home in 2018 ahead of Hurricane Michael and again this week ahead of Helene. Both times, she said she was “outvoted” by other family members, so they’ll be sheltering in place.

“Hating to leave but hating to stay too,” Nazworth said. “So just kinda go with the flow.”

Tropical Storm John expected to strengthen into a hurricane again

Tropical Storm John is expected to strengthen into a hurricane, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center.

On Wednesday afternoon, the center issued a hurricane warning for a portion of Mexico’s southwestern coastline, where tropical storm conditions could begin later in the day. Additionally, the existing tropical storm warning and hurricane watch were extended further west.

The center also said John would bring additional rainfall to coastal portions of southwest Mexico through Friday.

John first formed as a tropical storm in the Pacific on Monday before quickly intensifying into a hurricane, hitting Mexico’s southern Pacific coast late Monday, killing at least two people, triggering mudslides, and damaging homes and trees. The storm weakened after moving inland but later reemerged over the ocean.

John re-formed as a tropical storm Wednesday and threatened areas of Mexico’s western coast anew.

Florida is helping people evacuate the Big Bend region via bus and Uber

ORLANDO — The state of Florida was providing buses to evacuate people in the state’s Big Bend region and taking them to shelters in Tallahassee on Wednesday.

State emergency officials also were partnering with Uber to take residents to shelters in communities under evacuation orders, as Gov. Ron DeSantis warned that Helene could be as strong as a Category 4 hurricane when it makes landfall late Thursday and then plows through the Tallahassee area.

“The way this is tracking, it’s a storm that is stronger than what we’ve seen in the region, I think, in anyone’s memory,” DeSantis said Wednesday afternoon at a news conference at the state emergency operations center in Tallahassee. “Some of this may be unchartered ground, certainly for most people who are living here now.”

Airports in St. Petersburg, Tallahassee and Tampa also were planning to close on Thursday, and 62 hospitals, nursing homes and assisted living facilities had evacuated their residents Wednesday in anticipation of the storm. Law enforcement planned to close bridges once winds reached 40 mph at a sustained level, officials said.

Nearly half of Georgia’s public school districts cancel classes

Nearly half of Georgia’s public school districts, from the top to the bottom of the state, have canceled classes because of the approaching storm.

Schools, including in the cities of Atlanta, Columbus and Savannah will be closed Thursday and Friday, or dismissing early Thursday and closed Friday. None of the state’s largest school districts, all in suburban Atlanta, have announced closure plans yet.

South Carolina’s governor declares state of emergency

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Gov. Henry McMaster has declared a state of emergency in South Carolina, saying Hurricane Helene is going to be a dangerous storm even as the state avoids the brunt of the impacts.

Wednesday’s declaration allows the state to put in place emergency plans to coordinate between agencies and the federal government and opens the doors for counties and local governments to request assistance.

The coast and much of the western half of South Carolina is expecting tropical storm-force winds; a flash flood watch is also in effect. Parts of the mountains in extreme northern South Carolina could see up to 15 inches (38 centimeters) of rain, the National Weather Service said.

“Although South Carolina will likely avoid the brunt of Hurricane Helene’s impacts, the storm is still expected to bring dangerous flooding, high winds, and isolated tornadoes to many parts of the state,” McMaster said in a statement.

Helene’s size and speed could mean extra damage, experts say

Hurricane experts worry that Helene’s overall size and whip-fast forward speed will cause extra damage, keeping its strength longer as it penetrates inland into Georgia and beyond.

With tropical storm force winds expected to extend for more than 200 miles (322 kilometers), Hurricane Helene is forecast to be one of the largest storms in seven years to hit the Gulf of Mexico region, according to Colorado State University hurricane researcher Phil Klotzbach. He said since 1988, only three Gulf of Mexico hurricanes have been bigger: 2017’s Irma, 2005’s Wilma and 1995’s Opal.

“By every measure, this makes it worse,” said University of Miami senior hurricane researcher Brian McNoldy. “Hurricane force winds are just going to plow their way into Georgia too. Places that are not used to experiencing hurricanes are going to experience one.’’

Larger-sized storms mean hurricane-force and tropical storm-force winds will hit more people than in smaller storms, McNoldy said. It also means a larger storm surge piling up on the coast, he said.

Given the storm’s size and where it is forecast to hit, Gallagher Re, an insurance firm, is predicting between $3 billion to $6 billion in privately insured damages with another $1 billion in public insurance damage, including flood insurance.

Florida shoppers squeeze in grocery runs ahead of Helene’s arrival

There was a steady stream of shoppers squeezing in one more pre-storm grocery run Wednesday afternoon at a Publix in Crawfordville, Florida, about 20 miles (32 kilometers) south of Tallahassee.

Inside, shoppers loaded up on essentials and filled prescriptions. Some shelves of water and bread were thinned out, but staff were working to keep the store stocked in the calm before the storm.

Tallahassee resident Connie Dillard stopped in after visiting friends in town to pick up a case of water and ice for the cooler stowed in the back of her pickup truck, her service dog Bubba sitting in the passenger seat.

“We got food for everybody. And tonight, laying in a motel that hopefully has a microwave, we’ll cook it all up and we’ll be set for a couple days if the power goes out,” Dillard said.

Dillard said she planned to make one more stop before heading west toward Fort Walton Beach, hoping to get out of the direct path of Hurricane Helene.

“These storms are so unpredictable. And once they get into the Gulf with the warm waters, they pick up so much strength and move so fast,” Dillard said. “Just hope and pray that everybody’s safe. That’s all you can do.”

Helene could bring major flooding to Atlanta, meteorology professor says

ATLANTA — Hurricane Helene isn’t going to be just a coastal storm. All 159 counties in Georgia from Savannah to the Blue Ridge Mountains are under either a hurricane watch or warning or a tropical storm watch or warning.

“We’re setting up for a shocking, intense storm from one end of the state to the other,” University of Georgia meteorology professor Marshall Shepherd said.

Helene is quite big for an Atlantic hurricane and is moving fast — a combination that could mean major flooding and days if not weeks of power outages in Atlanta some 250 miles (402 kilometers) away from where the hurricane is expected to make landfall.

South Georgia can expect hurricane force winds while no part of the state will likely avoid some kind of dangerous weather, Sheppard said.

And for Atlanta, Helene could be the worst strike on a major Southern inland city in 35 years.

“It’s going to be a lot like Hugo in Charlotte,” Sheppard said of the 1989 storm that struck the major North Carolina city, knocking out power to 85% of customers and leveling some 80,000 trees as winds gusted above hurricane force.

Walt Disney World water park and golf courses closed Thursday

ORLANDO — Walt Disney World outside Orlando said Wednesday that it will be open on Thursday, except for its miniature golf courses and the Typhoon Lagoon water park. The theme park resort also said its Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party was canceled for Thursday.

“We are closely monitoring the projected path of Hurricane Helene as we continue to prioritize the safety of our guests and cast members,” Disney said in a statement.

‘Do what you got to do to get through it’

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Will Marx of Crawfordville has lived in Florida for the past five years and he says he’s always stayed at home during every storm that’s passed him.

Originally from Massachusetts, Marx said Wednesday that he was not as worried about Hurricane Helene since the storm is moving fast. While he didn’t put hurricane shutters up, he parked his car in an open area so that it wouldn’t be affected by falling branches.

“Do what you got to do to get through it,” he said. “It’s the slow moving ones that are really bad.”

Tampa airport to suspend operations early Thursday

TAMPA, Fla. — Tampa International Airport in Florida will suspend operations early Thursday ahead of when Hurricane Helene is expected to make landfall in the U.S.

The airport said in a statement Wednesday that “all commercial and cargo operations beginning at 2 a.m.” would be suspended, with the airport remaining closed to the public until any damage can be assessed. Additionally, it said three other public airports managed by the Hillsborough County Aviation Authority — Peter O. Knight, Tampa Executive and Plant City — would close at the same time.

The airport advised travelers to contact their airlines for more information and noted that the airport “will not be open for public use and is not equipped to function as a shelter for people or vehicles.”

More than 30 Georgia counties are under a hurricane warning

ALBANY, Ga. — Concerns deepened Wednesday afternoon that Helene’s hurricane-force winds could be felt far inland when the storm is forecast to move rapidly northward into southern Georgia after striking Florida.

More than 30 counties in southern Georgia were under a hurricane warning from the National Weather Service on Wednesday, including some rural areas roughly 100 miles north of the Georgia-Florida line.

The hurricane warning area for Georgia included Albany, southwest Georgia’s largest city with a population of 67,000, as well as Valdosta, home to 55,000 along Interstate 75. Helene approached barely a year after Valdosta and surrounding Lowndes County took a beating from Hurricane Idalia, which damaged more than 1,000 homes and inflicted more than $6 million in damage.

‘Lord willing, the oysters will survive’

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Oyster farmer Cainnon Gregg is spending Wednesday in a wetsuit, sinking his floating cages full of oysters to the bottom of Oyster Bay near Spring Creek, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) south of Tallahassee. It’s an attempt to keep his prized bivalves and the specialized aquaculture equipment that houses them from being blown apart by Hurricane Helene.

“Lord willing, the oysters will survive. But the main goal is to keep the equipment,” Gregg said. “If you lose your equipment, most of us can’t afford $50,000, $100,000 to start over.”

Gregg is part of a coalition of oyster farmers along what’s known as Florida’s Forgotten Coast, a largely undeveloped stretch of the state where for generations commercial fishing has been an industry and a way of life.

Gregg said he hopes to harvest one last truckload of his signature Salty Birds and Big Gulp oysters — banking on one final paycheck before Helene does its worst.

“I was sitting here yesterday after we got done working and we were drinking a beer before we left. And I was looking around and I was like, ‘man, this might be the last time we sit here’,” Gregg said. “There’s a good chance that we come back and it’s not here.”

Where to find more information about Florida evacuation orders

Ahead of Hurricane Helene’s arrival in Florida, at least 24 counties in the state were under an evacuation order by midday Wednesday, according to the state Division of Emergency Management.

While some orders were voluntary, others were mandatory — applying in part or entirely to a given county. Some orders also specifically applied to individuals in one of at least evacuation zones: A, B or C.

Florida residents looking for more information about evacuation zones and evacuation orders in their area can visit the division’s website.

North Carolina’s governor declares state of emergency ahead of Helene

RALEIGH, N.C. — North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper declared a State of Emergency ahead of Hurricane Helene on Wednesday as the state prepares for severe weather impacts that could threaten life and property across North Carolina through Saturday morning.

“Helene threatens heavy rain, flash flooding, landslides, and damaging winds to the mountains and Piedmont areas of our state,” Cooper said. “Now is the time for North Carolinians to prepare, make sure emergency kits are up-to-date and pay attention to the weather alerts in your area.”

The State Emergency Response Team is deploying equipment, personnel and resources to support impacted communities, including resources from the North Carolina National Guard.

‘We’re certainly worried about the intensity of this one’

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Paulette and Ben McLin are going to be spending the storm in their Tallahassee home, but Ben McLin said they are worried about whether their summer home in Alligator Point will still be intact after Helene blows through.

Ben McLin said that they’ve owned the home since 1963 and as a Tallahassee native, he’s no stranger to storms.

“You know, Kate was the worst one we went through and it was a Category 1,” he said. “We got a Category 3 now, so we’re certainly worried about the intensity of this one.”

He said they prepared the house with shutters, but said they’ve done all they can to prepare. Now, the couple has their fingers crossed that it’ll be fine.

Officials warn of potentially catastrophic flooding inland

In the mountains of North Carolina, Georgia and South Carolina, emergency officials are warning of potentially catastrophic flooding from back-to-back blows of heavy rain.

The National Weather Service is predicting up to 15 inches could fall over the next three days — first from a front over the region and then from Helene itself as the storm rushes through.

The impact could be similar to Tropical Storm Fred in 2021, when a heavy rain event just before combined with the tropical storm rains to cause floods that killed six people and damaged close to 1,000 homes and two dozen bridges.

“We’re three years out from that major flood. It’s very fresh in our minds,” Haywood County Emergency Services spokesperson Allison Richmond said.

Haywood County was hard hit in part because the extent of the 2021 flood wasn’t apparent until just before it struck. The county has added several river and stream gauges upstream in the higher ground of the county to have longer warnings and more precise data on the severity of any flooding, Richmond said.

‘People are taking heed and hightailing it out of there for higher ground’

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — As residents of Florida’s Big Bend batten down their homes ahead of Hurricane Helene’s expected landfall, the memories of Hurricane Michael in 2018 are fresh on the minds of many. That storm rapidly intensified before crashing ashore as a Category 5 that laid waste to Panama City and parts of the rural Florida Panhandle.

“I don’t think there’s this lackadaisical attitude where … ‘It’ll be fine, it’s only a Cat 3.’ Well, a Cat 3 can escalate to a Cat 5 pretty quickly,” said Kristin Korinko, a Tallahassee resident and the commodore of the Shell Point Sailboard Club, which sits on the Gulf Coast in Wakulla County, about 30 miles (48 kilometers) south of the state capital.

Korinko said most of her friends on the coast are following Wakulla’s countywide mandatory evacuation order issued by local officials. The county isn’t opening any emergency shelters.

“People are taking heed and hightailing it out of there for higher ground,” Korinko said.

Hurricane or not, one Florida resident is still serving up barbecue

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Pitmaster Edwin Barcus of E&J’s BBQ on Tallahassee’s south side wasn’t letting Hurricane Helene get in the way of him serving up plates of barbecue ribs and chicken on Wednesday.

“Rain or shine, it’s barbecue time,” Barcus said.

Smoke billowed off the smoldering pecan and cherry wood in Barcus’ twin smokers. While other Tallahassee residents were filling up on gas and securing their homes, Barcus was tending his racks of pork ribs — the first batch of which he got on the smoker around 5 a.m.

He intends to keep serving customers until about 4:30 Wednesday afternoon, regardless of the ferocious storm charting a collision course with the Florida Panhandle.

“Sometimes peoples’ lights go out early. So I try to come early to help the community out so they won’t have to worry about eating,” Barcus said. “I always try to give something back.”

‘I hope when we come back our house is still the same as it was’

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Roommates Frank Pinkney and Kameron Benjamin were filling up sandbags Wednesday at a community center in Tallahassee to protect their apartment.

The 19-year-old at Florida A&M students planned to evacuate after they were done.

“It’s different with this storm,” Benjamin said. “I’m from South Florida so we get a lot of hurricanes but they usually go through islands before it gets to us. But this hurricane is heading straight to Tallahassee, so I really don’t know what to expect.

“I hope that it kind of just blows over and it’s not as intense as it is being made to seem.”

Like his roommate, Pinkney said he hoped the storm didn’t tear up Tallahassee.

“I hope when we come back our house is still the same as it was, as we left it. But not really nervous, just cautious about what is going on around us.”

John has re-formed as a tropical storm in the Pacific off Mexico’s western coast, forecasters say

MIAMI — In the Pacific, former Hurricane John re-formed as a tropical storm Wednesday and threatened areas of Mexico’s western coast anew. John had hit the country’s southern Pacific coast late Monday, killing two people, blowing tin roofs off houses, triggering mudslides and toppling scores of trees, officials said Tuesday.

It grew into a Category 3 hurricane in a matter of hours and made landfall about 80 miles (128 kilometers) east of the resort city of Acapulco. It weakened to a tropical storm after moving inland but later reemerged over the ocean.

On Wednesday, officials issued a hurricane watch for the coast from Acapulco to Zihuatanejo and tropical storm warnings from Punta Maldonado to Lazaro Cardenas. John was about 110 miles (180 kilometers) southwest of Acapulco with maximum sustained winds of 40 mph (65 kph) and was moving east at 2 mph (4 kph).

DeSantis warns Florida residents to make final preparations for Helene

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis warned residents they needed to make their final preparations on Wednesday ahead of Hurricane Helene making landfall in the Panhandle as anywhere from a Category 1 to Category 4 hurricane in the next day or two.

The governor urged coastal communities to heed evacuation orders, saying residents don’t need to drive hundreds of miles away from their homes but just find higher ground at a shelter, hotel or friend’s house.

“The models vary on how intense this could be, but there’s clearly a pathway for this to rapidly intensify prior to making landfall,” DeSantis said at a news conference in Tampa.

As of early Wednesday, 61 out of 67 counties in Florida were under a state of emergency, and another three counties were under a warning or watch, with landfall expected Thursday evening in northern Florida, DeSantis said.

Impacts may be felt as far as 250 miles (402.34 kilometers) from the center of the storm, and some outer bands already were being felt in the Florida Keys Wednesday morning, said Kevin Guthrie, director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management.

Where is Helene now?

An 8 a.m. ET forecast from the National Weather Service showed Helene was located about 60 miles (100 kilometers) east-northeast of Cozumel, Mexico, and about 100 miles (160 kilometers) west-southwest of the western tip of Cuba as it moved northwest at 9 mph (15 kph) with maximum sustained winds of 70 mph (110 kph).

Tropical Storm Helene strengthens as hurricane

Tropical Storm Helene is rapidly strengthening in the Caribbean Sea and is expected to become a hurricane Wednesday while moving north along Mexico’s coast toward the U.S., prompting residents to evacuate, schools to close and officials to declare emergencies in Florida and Georgia.

The storm is forecast to be “near hurricane strength” when it passes near Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula early Wednesday, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said, and to “intensify and grow in size” as it moves north across the Gulf of Mexico. Heavy rainfall was forecast for the southeastern U.S. starting Wednesday, with a “life-threatening storm surge” along the entire west coast of Florida, according to the center.

Helene is expected to become a major hurricane — a Category 3 or higher — on Thursday, the day it’s set to reach Florida’s Gulf Coast, according to the hurricane center. The center has issued hurricane warnings for part of Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula and Florida’s northwestern coastline, where large storm surges of up to 15 feet (4.5 meters) were expected.

National Hurricane Center issues hurricane warnings for parts of Florida and Mexico

The U.S. National Hurricane Center has issued hurricane warnings for northwestern Florida’s coastline and part of Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula as Tropical Storm Helene approaches the area.

Helene is expected to strengthen into a hurricane Wednesday and could become a major hurricane Thursday.

Areas of western Cuba and Florida, including Tampa Bay, were under hurricane watches Tuesday evening. A tropical storm warning was issued for parts of Cuba and Florida’s southwestern coastline, including the Florida Keys.

A storm surge warning was in effect for Florida’s Tampa Bay, Charlotte Harbor, and from Indian Pass south to Flamingo. Florida and Georgia’s eastern coasts, from Palm Beach to the Savannah River, were under a tropical storm watch.