This liveblog has now ended. Follow the latest updates here.
Tallahassee working to keep its 70,000 students safe
Tallahassee Mayor John Dailey said that the city is making preparations to secure everyone’s safety, including its large population of students from Florida State University, Florida A&M University and Tallahassee State College.
"We have a student population of about 70,000" and have been working with those institutions, Dailey said. "Yesterday, they shut down the college campuses. We have encouraged the students to go home to be safe. Those students that will be remaining, we have great shelters in place where they can also go to be safe.”
Dailey said he had been in touch with both the governor's office and the White House ahead of the storm.
Florida Sen. Rick Scott says storm surge isn't survivable
U.S. Sen. Rick Scott of Florida issued a dire warning about the expected storm surge from Helene, which could be a Category 4 hurricane before it makes landfall, saying it won’t be survivable.
“In the Big Bend, they’re talking about possibly 18-foot of storm surge,” Scott said in Taylor County. “I’m a little over 6 feet — that’s three times my height. None of us are living that.”
Other parts of the coast are forecast to get 10 or 12 feet of storm surge, he said. Scott told people to evacuate and said no homes or possessions are worth dying for.
“You’re not going to survive. I mean, you’re not going to live through this stuff,” Scott said.
FEMA prepares for 'multi-state event'
Helene is expected to make landfall in Florida tomorrow as a major hurricane. FEMA Administrator Deanna Criswell joined José Díaz-Balart to discuss how the agency is preparing for the storm.
Apalachee Bay, Florida, could see ‘nightmare surge scenario,’ NWS says
The storm surge that will hit Apalachee Bay, Florida, could be “catastrophic and unsurvivable,” the National Weather Service warned today.
“This forecast, if realized, is a nightmare surge scenario for Apalachee Bay,” the weather service for the Tallahassee region said in a local impact statement. “Please, please, please take any evacuation orders seriously!”
Storm surge may begin arriving in the area, in Florida’s Big Bend region, as early as late today.
Apalachee Bay is south of Tallahassee.
Tropical storm-force winds extend 345 miles from Helene's center
The size of Hurricane Helene prompted national forecasters to issue tropical storm warnings for a huge swath of the Southeast.
Tropical storm-force winds extended 345 miles from the hurricane’s center this evening as it moves into the Gulf of Mexico and toward Florida, the National Hurricane Center said.
Tropical storm warnings covered almost all of Florida, all of Georgia and all of South Carolina, and they extended into Western North Carolina. Parts of Alabama were also under the warning.
“Look how far inland the tropical storm warnings extend. We don’t normally issue tropical storm warnings this far inland or for this part of the country,” National Hurricane Center Deputy Director Jamie Rhome said in a briefing.
Helene developments ‘increasingly dire’ for people in storm’s path, NHC official says
National Hurricane Center Deputy Director Jamie Rhome said today that updated information about Hurricane Helene “is increasingly dire for the people in the path of this storm” as it moves toward Florida.
Rhome said the agency is now forecasting Helene to be a Category 4 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson wind scale before it makes landfall sometime late tomorrow.
"Tallahassee, unfortunately, you’re going to be right in the path of these catastrophic winds,” Rhome said.
“Valdosta, Georgia, Albany, even all the way going up to Warner Robins in southern Georgia — you get a sense of just how far inland those hurricane-force winds are going to extend,” he said.
Catastrophic wind impacts mean people need to prepare for unsafe conditions, extended power outages and a significant number of downed trees and blocked roads, Rhome said.
A surprising hurricane season – and lots of activity in the Gulf Coast
This Atlantic hurricane season hasn’t shaped up like experts predicted.
In May, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration forecasters predicted eight to 13 hurricanes and 17 to 25 named storms in 2024 — its highest-ever forecast.
Hurricane season begins June 1 and ends Nov. 30. The season typically peaks in mid-September.
So far, there have been just eight named storms this season, and forecasters were surprised — and confused — when the season hit a lull in August and September.
Most Americans will remember not the number of storms but how many of them strike U.S. coastlines.
The Gulf Coast has taken an outsized battering this season. If Helene strikes Florida's Big Bend, as expected, it would be only the fifth time since 1851 that four or more hurricanes have hit the Gulf Coast region in a single season.
Some Florida theme parks closing their doors in anticipation of Helene
Hurricane Helene has prompted several theme parks in Florida to shut down for a day in anticipation of Hurricane Helene.
Universal Volcano Bay in Orlando will be closed tomorrow, Universal Orlando Resort said. The water theme park is expected to reopen Friday, the resort said in a statement.
Other theme parks and attractions, including Universal Studios Florida, Islands of Adventure, Halloween Horror Nights and hotels affiliated with the parks, remain open and are monitoring weather conditions, officials said.
Helene also prompted Walt Disney World to close some of its parks and cancel events, including Disney Typhoon Lagoon water park, miniature golf courses and Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party, it said in a statement.
In other theme park closings, Aquatica Orlando and Discovery Cove will shutter tomorrow, United Parks & Resorts said in a statement. Both parks are expected to reopen Friday.
Parks in Tampa, including Busch Gardens and Adventure Island, will close tomorrow and are expected to reopen Friday, officials said.
Storm chasers prepare to measure Hurricane Helene
When Hurricane Helene makes landfall, researchers Karen Kosiba and Josh Wurman plan to be at the center of it.
“We’re trying to position ourselves right where the eye is going to come on shore,” said Wurman, a University of Illinois research scientist.
The researchers are among the world’s top academic storm chasers. This afternoon, they were driving around Florida’s Big Bend region with six others, searching for locations safe enough to deploy pods that contain scientific instruments and Doppler-on-wheels radar trucks.
Once the storm arrives, they’ll hunker down, hoping to capture data about its wind speeds and structure. Such information will help researchers better understand what makes hurricanes tick.
“We can understand better how these storms intensify, how they weaken and how they evolve,” Wurman said.
The goal of such research is to learn about the inner dynamics of hurricanes and why some rapidly intensify as they near shore — a trend that research suggests is increasingly common because of climate change.
Earlier this year, Wurman and Kosiba intercepted a tornado whose winds briefly exceeded 300 mph.
It's tough work.
“We’re getting ready to hunker down and be in the storm for sometimes 12 or 18 hours. We’re sleeping in a truck. There’s no bathrooms. It’s dark,” Wurman said, adding that for a few hours during the eyewall, no one will be allowed out of their vehicles as debris batters the trucks. “I had a snake blow by me once.”
Virginia's governor declares state of emergency ahead of Helene's impacts
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin declared a state of emergency today in anticipation of heavy rainfall and flooding from Hurricane Helene.
While the current path of the hurricane is west of Virginia, forecasters predict the western part of the state could “experience significant rainfall and flooding Friday into Saturday, combined with pre-cursor rainfall events predicted in the next few days,” a statement from Youngkin's office said.
Youngkin said Virginians are not in the clear.
“Even though the largest impacts of Helene are predicted to the south and west of us, we cannot ignore the fact that we have had significant flooding events arise from pre-cursory rain events and outer bands from tropical systems that drop locally heavy rainfall leading to flooding, especially in our southwestern region,” he said.
Youngkin urged residents to stay vigilant and informed through "trusted resources" on the latest from Helene, as well as to follow the direction of their local officials.