Helene now an extremely dangerous Category 4 Hurricane

Hurricane Helene was upgraded to a major Category four storm ahead of its expected landfall on Florida’s northwest coast Thursday night. Forecasters warn that the enormous storm could create a “nightmare” surge in coastal areas and bring dangerous winds and rain across much of the southeastern US.

The hurricane was about 120 miles (195 kilometres) west of Tampa and had sustained winds of 130 mph (215 kph), according to the US National Hurricane Centre.

Category four hurricanes have sustained winds over 130 mph (209 kph) that can severely damage homes, snap trees and down power lines.

More than 500,000 homes and businesses had lost power in Florida as of 8:30 p.m., and that number is rising quickly, according to tracking site poweroutage.us.

Most outages were along the state’s west coast, where Hurricane Helene was approaching. Duke Energy, a major energy provider serving west-central Florida and the Panhandle, and Florida Power & Light Company, the state’s largest energy provider, were reporting over 150,000 outages each.

10PM UPDATE

As of 10pm Helene is about 65 miles south of Tallahassee and moving northeast at a speed of roughly 24 miles per hour, according to the National Hurricane Center.

More than 700,000 homes and businesses are without power in Florida as high winds and heavy rainfall batter the state.

The Hurricane Centre reports water levels are roughly six feet higher than the mean at Clearwater Beach and Cedar Key. Officials say a storm surge as high as 15-20 feet could swamp Florida’s Gulf Coast, a potentially deadly scenario.