Florida braces for hurricane to bring 20-foot storm surge | 26 Sept 2024 | The state of Florida has issued a number of mandatory evacuation orders as Hurricane Helene strengthened over the Gulf of Mexico. As of Thursday afternoon, the storm had grown into a category 3 hurricane and is expected to make landfall on Florida's Big Bend later in the evening. Officials have urged people to heed evacuation orders, warning that the storm will bring "life-threatening" weather to the region with destructive winds and significant storm surge. It is expected to make landfall as a category 4 hurricane south of Tallahassee, a city that has not seen a storm of this magnitude in recent memory.