Tropical Weather Latest: Helene strengthens to a Category 4 hurricane as it barrels toward Florida

Fast-moving Hurricane Helene was advancing Thursday across the Gulf of Mexico toward Florida, threatening a “catastrophic” storm surge in northwestern parts of the state as well as damaging winds, rains and flash floods hundreds of miles inland across much of the southeastern U.S., forecasters said.

The storm was upgraded to an “extremely dangerous” Category 4 storm Thursday. Landfall is expected by the evening.

States of emergency were declared in Florida, Georgia, the Carolinas, Virginia and Alabama.

In the Pacific, former Hurricane John strengthened Thursday morning back into a hurricane as it threatened areas of Mexico’s western coast with flash flooding and mudslides.

Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Isaac formed Wednesday in the Atlantic Ocean and was expected to strengthen as it moves eastward, possibly becoming a hurricane by the end of the week, forecasters said. Isaac was about 690 miles (1,115 kilometers) northeast of Bermuda with top sustained winds of 50 mph (85 kph), according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami. It was moving east at about 12 mph (19 kph).

Follow AP's coverage of tropical weather at https://apnews.com/hub/hurricanes.

Here's the latest:

VALDOSTA, Ga. — Heavy rains began falling and winds were picking up in Valdosta, Georgia, near the Florida state line shortly before 7 p.m. ET.

The National Weather Service said more than a dozen Georgia counties could see winds exceeding 110 mph, including Lowndes County where Valdosta is located along Interstate 75.

Other inland cities in rural southern Georgia where the hurricane threat was highest included Thomasville, Moultrie and Tifton.

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden declared a state of emergency in Alabama on Thursday ahead of Hurricane Helene's landfall in nearby Florida.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center has said Hurricane Helene is unusually large and expected to have far-ranging impacts beyond Florida's Big Bend, where the storm is expected to make landfall Thursday evening. The governors of Florida, Georgia, the Carolinas and Virginia already declared emergencies in their states.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said that models have Hurricane Helene making landfall most likely in a rural coastal county of almost 22,000 people in the state’s Big Bend area.

The fast-moving storm will likely reach Taylor County, Florida late Thursday, DeSantis said at an evening news conference at the state’s emergency operation center in Tallahassee.

“You’re going to have hurricane force winds for probably 50 miles outside the eye of the storm, and then you’re going to continue to see surge, particularly in that Big Bend area,” DeSantis said.

About five hours before the expected landfall, the governor said residents of vulnerable areas of northern Florida “still have time” to evacuate but that the window was shutting quickly. The governor warned residents they would likely lose power and that intercoastal bridges across the state were being closed to traffic.

ASHEVILLE, N.C. — As night falls in the North Carolina mountains, emergency officials are asking anyone who lives in a place that has ever flooded to find safety at higher ground as Hurricane Helene nears land.

Flooding has already started in some areas after 7 to 10 inches (18 to 25 centimeters) of rain fell from a storm unrelated to the hurricane.

Forecasters predict an additional 9 to 14 inches (23 to 36 centimeters) of rain could fall as what remains of Helene moves across the area Thursday night into Friday.

“A storm like this, we’re seeing flooding where we have never seen it before,” said Jimmy Brissie, emergency services director for Henderson County south of Asheville.

Already the Swannanoa and French Broad Rivers are predicted to reach levels not seen since the benchmark flood of 1916 in western North Carolina that killed 80 people and isolated Asheville for weeks.

Emergency officials also fear mudslides as rushing water could pick up dirt and boulders and send them all cascading down mountainsides.

Helene strengthened into an “extremely dangerous” Category 4 hurricane ahead of its expected landfall on Florida’s northwest coast Thursday night, forecasters said.

The hurricane was about 120 miles (195 kilometers) west of Tampa and had sustained winds of 130 mph (215 kph), according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center.

Category 4 hurricanes have sustained winds over 130 mph (209 kph) that can severely damage homes, snap trees and down power lines. Strong winds have already cut power to over 250,000 homes and businesses in Florida, according to the tracking site poweroutage.us.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — In 2005, Hurricane Dennis landed near the Alabama-Florida state line as a Category 3 hurricane. Far to the east, Florida’s Big Bend — where Hurricane Helene is expected to come ashore — never even felt tropical storm strength winds, but it was still hit with a mass of water that devasted coastal communities.

That’s storm surge. It’s more deadly and destructive than wind and can make a significant impact far from the center of a storm.

While wind can tear off roofs, knock down trees and snap power lines, storm surge can push buildings completely off their foundations, can trap and even drown people in their homes, wash out roads and bridges, toss boats inland and hammer anything in its path.

“The leading cause of death from hurricanes is water, not wind,” said Craig Fugate, the former director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

And in the case of Hurricane Helene, predicted storm surge as high as 20 feet could be devastating in the coastal areas of the state’s Big Bend.

▶ Read more about the destructive power of storm surge

ATLANTA — What is normally evening rush hour for metro Atlanta’s more than 6 million residents revealed a city that had already gone home to button up for Hurricane Helene.

The city’s downtown office district was nearly deserted, and normally traffic-choked freeways were all flowing freely.

Most areas of metro Atlanta received 1 to 2 inches (2.5 to 5 centimeters) of rain during the day Thursday, atop heavier rain Wednesday. Forecasters extended hurricane warnings even farther north, pushing them into Atlanta’s southern exurbs, as officials continued to warn that the area is likely to see significant storm winds.

WASHINGTON — Vice President Kamala Harris on Thursday urged people in Hurricane Helene's path to heed the orders of local officials.

“We urge everyone who is watching at this very moment to take this storm very seriously,” she said during a gun violence prevention event in the East Room of the White House.

ORLANDO — Florida’s busiest airport remained open Thursday despite Hurricane Helene being on a path to make landfall in the northern part of the state.

Orlando International Airport had a total of 65 flight cancellations, as of Thursday afternoon. Other Florida airports were closed in Tampa, Clearwater and Tallahassee because of the storm.

Passengers with canceled flights were urged to contact their airlines for information on rebooking, the airport said in a news release.

Orlando International Airport was the seventh busiest airport in the United States, and Florida’s busiest, with more than 28 million passengers boarded last year, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation.

NEW ORLEANS — In New Orleans, members of the nonprofit Footprint Project have spent the day preparing solar microgrid trailers, backup batteries and atmospheric water generators for deployment to county emergency departments and relief organizations in Florida in anticipation of widespread and prolonged power outages.

More than 160,000 people in Florida have already lost power according to Poweroutage.us. The zero-emission equipment is meant to offset the need for gas and diesel-powered generators, which pollute the air and can be costly to fuel. Some of the equipment was being transported from southeast Louisiana where it was used during power outages caused by Hurricane Francine.

“It’s clean, it’s quiet, it’s safer,” said program director Jamie Swezey. “Our goal is to offset use of traditional gas and diesel generators that are always in the field and that exacerbate extreme weather events.”

ATLANTA — Several cities and counties in south Georgia have imposed overnight curfews in advance of Hurricane Helene’s expected arrival Thursday evening, including Albany, Valdosta and Thomasville — the largest cities in the region.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Students who remained in the dorms at Florida State University and Florida A&M University in Tallahassee have been moved into shelters for the duration of Hurricane Helene.

At Florida State, university officials assisted students in moving from their dorms to the Augustus B. Turnbull Conference Center, which opened Thursday morning. The conference center has been upgraded to withstand extreme conditions, university officials said.

At nearby Florida A&M, students who remained in on-campus housing were also asked to shelter at the Al Lawson Center until the storm passes.

PERRY, Fla. — Officials in mostly rural Taylor County, along Florida’s Big Bend region where Hurricane Helene is expected to make landfall, offered a very dire warning on Facebook for anyone who didn’t evacuate:

“Please write your name, birthday, and important information on your arm or leg in a PERMANENT MARKER so that you can be identified and family notified.”

The sheriff’s office further asked residents to email them vital information including the location of their home, and the number of people and animals who live there.

They also asked residents who followed evacuation orders to have patience when it’s time to return home. They noted that there will likely be many impassable roads, downed trees and power lines.

Taylor County has a population of about 22,000.

Georgia officials are urging people to stay home while emergency teams disperse to manage Helene’s impact as the storm moves swiftly across the state.

“This is one of the biggest storms we’ve ever had,” Gov. Brian Kemp told reporters on Thursday. “It may not be the strongest category, but from a wind field perspective and the amount of damage it has the potential to do statewide, it’s better to be safe than sorry.”

Extended power outages across the state are likely tonight and tomorrow, especially in South Georgia, Kemp said. The storm is expected to move through South Georgia from around sunset Thursday to sunrise Friday, and through middle Georgia between 10 p.m. Thursday and 10 a.m. Friday, and through North Georgia from midnight to noon Friday.

There are currently eight emergency shelters and 30 American Red Cross teams ready to set up shelters if more are needed.“I can assure you we will respond with every asset that we have available as soon as its safe to do so,” Kemp said.

CEDAR KEY, Fla. — Lumber and other debris from a fire in Cedar Key a week ago were crashing ashore in the rising water Thursday afternoon, well ahead of Hurricane Helene’s arrival along the Big Bend region on Florida’s Gulf Coast.

Officials with Cedar Key Fire Rescue posted on Facebook a video of the debris-filled waves. They advised people to stay away from the water’s edge to avoid being hit by debris that was crashing ashore.

The fire along Dock Street damaged several buildings on Sept. 19, officials said.

On Wednesday afternoon, the agency pleaded with residents to evacuate the island, which is southwest of Gainesville.

“There will be no place for you to go if things get bad,” the post said. “We do not have shelters on the island. There will be no food, no water or sewage and more than likely you will lose power. It could possibly be days before it’s restored. This is going to be a life-threatening surge. It is nothing to take lightly.

They offered a dire warning: “If you choose to stay and things change for the bad, you are putting your first responder’s life in danger unnecessarily.”

ASHEVILLE, N.C. — Forecasters responsible for much of the North Carolina mountains say flooding in the region from Hurricane Helene could be worse than anything seen in the past century.

The National Weather Service in Greer, South Carolina, said 7 to 10 inches (18 to 25 centimeters) of rain have already fallen the past two days along a front before Helene-related storms arrive.

They predict an additional 9 to 14 inches (23 to 36 centimeters) of rain could fall as what remains of the hurricane moves across the area Thursday into Friday.

“This will be one of the most significant weather events to happen in the western portions of the area in the modern era,” forecasters said in a statement Thursday.

They said it could be the worst flooding since 1916 when two decaying tropical systems rained themselves out over the region causing widespread floods and mudslides that killed 80 people, wiped out dozens of miles of railroad tracks and brought down boulders that still sit in fields today. Asheville and other mountain towns were cut off for weeks.

Helene also could bring hurricane force wind gusts to the highest peaks in North Carolina, Georgia and South Carolina and gusts over 60 mph (97 kph) to the rest of the region.

ST. PETE BEACH, Fla. — Some intersections in St. Pete Beach along Florida’s Gulf Coast were underwater by Thursday afternoon.

Photos posted by the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office showed roads underwater in a commercial district of the beachside city located about 30 miles southwest of Tampa.

“We are already seeing concerning conditions,” the sheriff’s office posted.

The National Weather Service’s hurricane center warned Thursday that Hurricane Helene will “penetrate well inland across the southeastern United States” after making landfall in Florida.

Tropical storm warnings were posted as far north as North Carolina.

The unusual reach as far north and inland as forecasters expect — and the potential impacts — is raising questions about the Fujiwhara Effect, a rare weather event where two storms rotate around a shared midpoint.

But Hurricane Helene isn’t interacting with another tropical storm at surface level, so it’s not technically an example of the Fujiwhara Effect. Instead, Helene is feeling the effects of a low-pressure weather system in the upper levels of the atmosphere.

The potential impact is still severe: The hurricane center has warned of prolonged power outages, downed trees and dangerous flooding miles away from the Florida coastline in parts of Georgia, the Carolinas and Tennessee.

Helene strengthened into a major Category 3 hurricane Thursday as it barreled across the Gulf of Mexico on a path to Florida.

The hurricane was about 195 miles (315 kilometers) southwest of Tampa and had sustained winds of at least 111 mph (179 kph), according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center. The huge storm’s center is expected to make landfall in the Big Bend area of Florida’s northwestern coast Thursday evening.

Hurricane warnings and flash flood warnings extended far beyond the coast up into south-central Georgia. The governors of Florida, Georgia, the Carolinas and Virginia have all declared emergencies in their states.

Helene became a tropical storm Tuesday in the western Caribbean Sea and became a hurricane Wednesday.

SARASOTA, Fla. — Conditions along the coastal areas near Sarasota were beginning to deteriorate early Thursday afternoon, officials said.

The Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office posted photos on social media showing water lapping over a road at Nora Patterson Park, which is on the northern tip of Siesta Key.

Sarasota is about 60 miles (96 kilometers) from Tampa on Florida’s Gulf Coast.

VALDOSTA, Ga. — Some businesses began closing early Thursday afternoon in Valdosta, Georgia, near the Florida line. The inland city was under a hurricane warning, with forecasters predicting dangerous winds late Thursday as Helene’s center churns northward through southern Georgia.

Employees of a Walmart in Valdosta were turning away customers in the parking lot before 1:30 p.m. Red and blue pallets stacked high blocked the store’s entrances.

Margaret Freenman, 67, and her two grandchildren found the store closed when they showed up to buy a few extra snacks before Helene arrives. Freeman said she’d already stocked up on essentials.

Freeman has lived in Valdosta her entire life and said hurricanes have only seemed like a real threat in recent years.

Hurricane Idalia uprooted a tree that punched a hole in Freeman’s roof and broke some windows when it tore through Valdosta a year ago. Tropical Storm Debby knocked out electricity for thousands in August.

“It’s a wakeup call for everybody,” said Freeman, who planned to ride out the latest storm again at home.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The Skyway Bridge over Tampa Bay has closed as wind gusts have reached 60 mph, the Florida Highway Patrol said Thursday afternoon.

CRAWFORDVILLE, Fla. — The sheriff of a coastal Florida county in the path of Hurricane Helene said Thursday that his community is in for “a rough 24 hours and a long recovery.”

Wakulla County Sheriff Jared Miller said the county likely has a long road ahead of it once the storm passes after making an expected landfall Thursday night. The storm could grow to a Category 4 hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico before landing in the Big Bend area where Wakulla County is located, with a storm surge up to 20 feet (6 km).

“I have lived here my entire life and have never witnessed some of the storm predictions we are currently seeing,” Miller said in a social media post. “I hope that I am mistaken.”

The sheriff urged residents to stay off local roads, including evacuees who may be itching to return to see the conditions of their homes after the storm passes through.

ASHEVILLE, N.C. — Emergency officials in the North Carolina mountains are warning that heavy rains before Hurricane Helene even arrives have set the stage for potentially historic flooding.

The French Broad River and Swannanoa River, which run in and around Asheville and then south, are already predicted to break 100-year-old records Friday into Saturday. The flooding could be worse than in 2004 when water rose to car rooftops in Biltmore Village just outside the gates of the historic Biltmore estate built by George Vanderbilt.

“This is a potentially historic event with catastrophic, deadly consequences. This is not a maybe. This is on track to happen. So please, please take every precaution to take yourself out of harm’s way,” Buncombe County Emergency Services Director Taylor Jones said.

Seven inches (18 centimeters) of rain has already fallen in Asheville while some other areas have seen even more. All of the water is flowing downhill out of the mountains.

Mudslides are also a danger as swiftly flowing rivers and runoffs cut their own channels and bring down rocks, trees and other debris, said Andrew Kimball, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Greer, South Carolina.

WASHINGTON — The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s administrator Deanne Criswell said Thursday that the pre-landfall emergency declarations for Hurricane Helene are important to help states have the resources they need to open shelters and get people to safety.

She also noted changes to Small Business Administration policies to make it easier for people including those who work from home to qualify for help.

WASHINGTON — The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s administrator Deanne Criswell said the increased severity of extreme weather has led her agency to put more resources in place ahead of landfall by Hurricane Helene.

The FEMA head warned about flash flooding from rain and said it’s better to have more search and rescue teams ready to help people than to have too few teams.

WASHINGTON — The head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency Deanne Criswell said her agency has been preparing for Hurricane Helene for “a number of days” and they began moving resources into Florida on Monday.

Speaking at Thursday’s White House briefing, Criswell said she anticipates the storm will be a multi-state event with impacts from Florida to Tennessee. She added that there are 1,100 people distributed across the federal government to address any damage from Helene and that an additional 700 personnel are ready to provide support after the storm hits.

She added that people in the hurricane’s path should listen to local government officials about whether to evacuate or shelter in place.

Criswell said she will travel to the region on Friday at President Joe Biden’s direction to assess the situation.

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper warned residents in western and central counties to prepare for heavy rain and “potentially catastrophic flooding” Thursday night and Friday from Hurricane Helene.

Speaking at a Thursday morning briefing, Cooper said the mountains also likely will see landslides, river flooding and debris flows. And cities not necessarily in Helene’s direct path, like Charlotte and Asheville, could see flash flooding, he said.

“The impacts of Helene should not be ignored and all North Carolinians should remain informed,” said state emergency management director Will Ray. Areas of western North Carolina could receive from 9 to 14 inches (23 to 36 centimeters) of rain, with amounts reaching 20 inches (51 centimeters) possible, Ray said.

Cooper said some shelters were already open and 175 National Guard service members were activated to help in the storm response.

Additionally, he said people in the mountains and foothills who don’t have to travel shouldn’t, the governor said.

“I’m concerned about our mountain areas, seeing the amount of rain that’s already on the ground and this storm coming,” he said. “I’ve seen firsthand the devastation that it can cause.”

Mexico President Andrés Manuel López Obrador raised the death toll from Hurricane John to five Thursday as the communities along the country’s Pacific coast prepared for the storm to make a second landfall.

The Georgia Emergency Management Agency said nine shelters were opening for Hurricane Helene, mostly in the southern parts of the state. The state has also opened its state parks to evacuees, saying it’s welcoming people and pets, including horses.

Parks officials say they are currently housing 15 evacuees.

President Joe Biden approved an emergency declaration for North Carolina on Thursday, according to the White House. The approval follows one issued for Georgia earlier in the day and one issued for Florida earlier in the week.

Federal Emergency Management Agency teams were already deployed to Florida and Alabama to support local first responders. Federal authorities have positioned generators, food and water, along with search-and-rescue and power restoration teams.

ST. MARKS, Fla. — As Hurricane Helene barreled toward Florida’s Big Bend, Philip Tooke sat in a rocking chair on the back deck of his fish house overlooking the St. Marks River, watching and waiting.

A commercial fisherman who took over the business his father founded in the town of St. Marks, about 5 miles (8 kilometers) north of Apalachee Bay, Tooke plans to ride out this storm like he did Hurricane Michael and others — on his boat.

“This has been my livelihood. This is what pays my bills,” Tooke said of his boats. “If I lose that, I don’t have anything.”

Tooke said he’ll wait until the water is about knee-deep and then he, his brother Richard and some of their employees will hunker down on the La Victoria, the Jenny Lee and the Susan D, loosening the lines that fasten the boats to the dock as the water rises, in the hopes they won’t be battered apart.

St. Marks sits at the confluence of the St. Marks and Wakulla Rivers and is known to flood during storm events. On Thursday morning, water was already beginning to cover Riverside Drive, which runs through downtown.

VALDOSTA, Ga. — Rain drizzled Thursday morning outside a fire station where residents filled sandbags in the unincorporated Clyattville community outside Valdosta near the Georgia-Florida line. Helene was forecast to pass nearby as a hurricane Thursday night.

Jose Gonzales and his 14-year-old son, Jadin, shoveled sand into bags and piled them into the back of a pickup truck. Though their home is inland, Gonzales said heavy rains during Hurricane Idalia a year ago got blown under his doors and cracked a window. Some of the carpet inside got so wet he had to replace it.

For Helene, he planned to fortify his doors in hopes of preventing it from happening again.

“If it blows sideways, we might get more water inside the house,” Gonzales said. “It’s just mother nature.”

President Joe Biden approved an emergency declaration for Georgia on Thursday morning after issuing one for Florida earlier in the week.

Federal authorities have positioned generators, food and water, along with search-and-rescue and power restoration teams. And Florida officials have sent more than 130 generators to gas stations to ensure that people will be able to fill their cars after the storm, and extra fuel has been shipped into Florida, DeSantis said.

MEXICO CITY — As John became a hurricane for the second time, rain continued to pelt the Pacific coast state of Guerrero in Mexico where the storm caused three deaths in its first landfall earlier this week.

Authorities in Guerrero reported flooding in some low-lying neighborhoods in Acapulco. Soldiers and National Guard officers were posted outside stores in Acapulco to prevent the kind of widespread looting that broke out in the resort after Hurricane Otis hit last October.

VALDOSTA, Ga. — Joe Overby, 67, and his family were preparing Thursday to ride out the hurricane at their home in the unincorporated Clyattville community outside Valdosta, Georgia, where Hurricane Idalia a year ago toppled trees and damaged about 1,000 homes.

Overby boarded up the open front of a large storage building next to his house. He had a generator to power his refrigerator and freezer and planned to move cars to his neighbor’s yard across the street where there were no trees.

He said Idalia last year bent some sturdy oaks in his backyard, exposing the roots.

“I’m afraid this time they’re going to come down,” Overby said, adding that he planned to hunker down at home overnight with his wife, two children and four dogs.

“This old house was built in 1903,” he said. “I think it’ll hold up. You can’t even pull the nails out, the wood is so hard.”

State officials warned Florida residents of the potential risks they face even after Hurricane Helene rips through the northern part of the state, which was expected Thursday night.

Driving on roadways and tree branches falling on homes were the two biggest hazards during storms, said Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis at a news conference in Tallahassee.

Drivers should stay off roads because of potential flooding and people should stay in the interior parts of their homes if they hear tree limbs snapping, which sounds like fireworks or a gun being fired, officials said.

“It will likely be dark by the time this storm passes,” DeSantis said. “Do not try to do any work in the dark. You don’t know what hazards are out there. The sun is going to come out. You’re going to have time to take stock of this.”

State emergency officials have sent more than 130 generators to gas stations to ensure that people will be able to fill their cars after the storm, and extra fuel has been shipped into Florida, DeSantis said.

“We haven’t seen fuel shortages, only some lines,” the governor said. “So we feel good about the fuel situation.”

Associated Press journalists are stationed across parts of Florida and Georgia to report on Hurricane Helene and the storm’s aftermath.

Photographer Gerald Herbert and videographer Stephen Smith are in Crawfordville, Florida, which is south of Tallahassee in what’s known as the Big Bend region. Reporters Brendan Farrington and Kate Payne are reporting from Tallahassee, the state’s capital.

The AP also has photographer Mike Stewart, video journalist Sharon Johnson and reporter Russ Bynum reporting from Valdosta, Georgia, which is about 72 miles northeast of Tallahassee, just across the state line.

Helene knocked out power in western Cuba as it brushed past the island, affecting some 160,000 customers in the province of Artemisa and another 70,000 in the neighboring province of Pinar del Río.

The hurricane also forced some 800 people in the region to evacuate flood-prone zones, according to Guerrillero, a local newspaper.

Pictures posted on social media showed overflowing rivers that turned some streets into creeks as people traveled by boat with their personal belongings.

On the Isle of Youth, some 25 hectares (62 acres) of tobacco seedbeds of export quality were damaged, said Raúl Fernández, director of a local company, adding that an anticipated planting schedule for October could be delayed. In addition, some 3,000 customers, about 12% of the municipality, were without power.

The Cuban government was still assessing overall damage on Thursday.

Airports in the Florida cities of Tampa, Tallahassee and Clearwater were closed Thursday, while more than half the flights to airports in Sarasota and Fort Myers were canceled Thursday morning, according to flight tracking service FlightAware.

More than a hundred flights in and out of the world’s busiest airport in Atlanta had also been canceled while more than 100 others were delayed, but that’s a relatively small fraction of flights there. Airports in Charlotte, North Carolina, and the Florida cities of Miami, Fort Lauderdale and Orlando were seeing a smaller number of delays and cancellations

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — A shift in models nudging Hurricane Helene’s projected landfall further east lessens the chances for a direct hit on Florida’s capital city if that trajectory holds, Gov. Ron DeSantis said Thursday morning.

The shift placed the storm closer to the sparsely-populated Big Bend area where two hurricanes in the past year made landfall — Idalia in August 2023 and Debby last August. The Tallahassee metro area has a population of almost 393,000 residents.

Helene was expected to make landfall Thursday night, possibly as a Category 4 storm.

“That’s significant when you are talking about Tallahassee because yesterday we were talking about an eye wall that’s on the western part of the city,” DeSantis said at a news conference from the state’s emergency operations center in Tallahassee.

The Tallahassee area hadn’t seen a major hurricane of Helene’s expected magnitude at landfall in recent memory, the governor said.

“The more the track shifts east, the better off for Tallahassee,” DeSantis said.

Even the building where Florida’s emergency response to Hurricane Helene is organized will be put to the test when the fast-moving storm plows through Tallahassee late Thursday, possibly as a Category 4 hurricane, state officials said.

The building that houses the state’s emergency operations center in Tallahassee has walls that were built to withstand a Category 5 hurricane. But during construction in the 1990s, there wasn’t enough money to ensure the roof could withstand a hurricane that strong, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said during a news conference Wednesday afternoon. Backup plans were in place should there be any problems with the building.

“It should be fine, but we’ll see,” DeSantis said. “We’ve taken precautions just in case something happens to be able to continue the continuity without any major interruption.”

MEXICO CITY — Former Hurricane John restrengthened into a hurricane on Thursday morning as it threatened areas of Mexico’s western coast with flash flooding and mudslides. Officials posted hurricane warnings for southwestern Mexico.

John hit the country’s southern Pacific coast late Monday, killing at least two people, triggering mudslides, and damaging homes and trees. It grew into a Category 3 hurricane in a matter of hours and made landfall east of Acapulco. It reemerged over the ocean after weakening inland.

PANACEA, Fla. — Rain was beginning to blow in the predawn darkness Thursday along coastal U.S. Highway 98, which winds through countless fishing villages and vacation hideaways along Florida’s Big Bend.

Shuttered gas stations dotted the two-lane highway, their windows boarded up with plywood to protect against the storm. The road was largely empty at first light, with what drivers there mostly heading northeast, towards higher ground.

This stretch of Florida known as the Forgotten Coast has been largely spared by the widespread condo development and commercialization that dominates so many of Florida’s beach communities. The sparsely populated region is loved for its natural wonders — the vast stretches of salt marshes, tidal pools and barrier islands; the dwarf cypress trees of Tate’s Hell State Forest; and Wakulla Springs, considered one of the world’s largest and deepest freshwater springs.

MIAMI — Helene was upgraded Thursday morning to a Category 2 storm and is expected to be a major hurricane — meaning a Category 3 or higher — when it makes landfall on Florida’s northwestern coast Thursday evening.

As of early Thursday, hurricane warnings and flash flood warnings extended far beyond the coast up into south-central Georgia. The governors of Florida, Georgia, the Carolinas and Virginia have all declared emergencies in their states.

MIAMI — Tropical Storm Isaac formed Wednesday in the Atlantic Ocean and was expected to strengthen as it moves eastward, possibly becoming a hurricane by the end of the week, forecasters said.

Isaac was about 690 miles (1,115 kilometers) northeast of Bermuda with top sustained winds of 50 mph (85 kph), according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami. It was moving east at about 12 mph (19 kph).

Isaac is the ninth named storm in what is predicted to be a busy hurricane season, which runs from June 1 to Nov. 30 in the Atlantic. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicts between 17 and 25 named storms, with as many as 13 hurricanes and four major hurricanes.

An average Atlantic hurricane season produces 14 named storms, seven of them hurricanes and three major hurricanes.

Eric Midili, 45, examines and walks around a flooded street around the Sunset Park neighborhood as Hurricane Helene makes its way toward the Florida panhandle on Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024, in Tampa, Fla. (Jefferee Woo/Tampa Bay Times via AP)

A sign closing down a road is posted around the Sunset Park neighborhood as Hurricane Helene makes its way toward the Florida panhandle on Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024, in Tampa, Fla. (Jefferee Woo/Tampa Bay Times via AP)

Vera Kelly, of Tallahassee, lies on a cot after evacuating to a hurricane shelter with her grandchildren and great grandchildren, at Fairview Middle School, ahead of Hurricane Helene, expected to make landfall here today, in Leon County, Fla., Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Vera Kelly, of Tallahassee, lies on a cot after evacuating to a hurricane shelter with her grandchildren and great grandchildren, at Fairview Middle School, ahead of Hurricane Helene, expected to make landfall here today, in Leon County, Fla., Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Bobby Joe Edwards, Sr., and his wife Lillie Edwards, of Walkalla, Fla., and their grandson Tavarrious Dixon, rest inside a hurricane evacuation shelter at Fairview Middle School, ahead of Hurricane Helene, expected to make landfall here today, in Leon County, Fla., Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Terry Lana, of Woodville, Fla., who lives in a mobile home, evacuates to a shelter at Fairview Middle School, ahead of Hurricane Helene, expected to make landfall here today, in Leon County, Fla., Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Perry Kalip and his mother Martha Kale, of Tallahassee, arrive at a a hurricane evacuation shelter at Fairview Middle School, ahead of Hurricane Helene, expected to make landfall here today, in Leon County, Fla., Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Jose Gonzales and his son Jadin Gonzales, 14, fill sand bags ahead of Hurricane Helene, expected to make landfall Thursday evening, Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024, in Clyattville, Ga. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

Jose Gonzales and his son Jadin Gonzales, 14, fill sand bags ahead of Hurricane Helene, expected to make landfall Thursday evening, Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024, in Clyattville, Ga. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

Paulette McLin takes in the scene outside their summer home ahead of Hurricane Helene, expected to make landfall Thursday evening, in Alligator Point, Fla., Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Jerry McCullen, top of ladder left, and Carson Baze, top of ladder right, put plywood over the windows of a house ahead of Hurricane Helene, expected to make landfall Thursday evening, in Alligator Point, Fla., Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Will Marx cleans up remodeling debris in advance of Tropical Storm Helene, expected to become a hurricane before landfall, in Panacea, Fla., Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Crum’s Mini Mall in the coastal town of Panacea, Fla., is boarded up Thursday Sept. 26, 2024 ahead of Hurricane Helene’s expected arrival. (AP Photo/Kate Payne)

A man removes water from a boat while talking to neighbors after the passage of Hurricane Helene in Guanimar, Artemisa province, Cuba, Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

A man pushes his bicycle through a flooded street after Hurricane Helene passed through Guanimar, Artemisa province, Cuba, Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

People traverse a flooded street with a horse-drawn carriage after the passage of Hurricane Helene in Guanimar, Artemisa province, Cuba, Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

A shopper passes by empty shelves in the bread section of a Walmart, Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024 in Tallahassee, Fla. Grocery stores and gas stations were seeing heavy traffic in advance of Hurricane Helene, expected to make landfall Thursday night in the Big Bend area. (AP Photo/Phil Sears)

A shopper checks out nearly empty shelves in the lunch meat section of a Walmart, Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024 in Tallahassee, Fla. Grocery stores and gas stations were seeing heavy traffic in advance of Hurricane Helene, expected to make landfall Thursday night in the Big Bend area. (AP Photo/Phil Sears)

This satellite image provided by NOAA shows Hurricane Helene advancing across the Gulf of Mexico toward Florida on Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024. (NOAA via AP)

Bob Danzey, a resident, walks at the waters edge ahead of Hurricane Helene, expected to make landfall here today, in Shell Point Beach, Fla., Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

NEW YORK (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday vowed to carry out “full force” strikes against Hezbollah until it ceases firing rockets across the border, dimming hopes for a cease-fire proposal put forth by U.S. and European officials.

Israel carried out a new strike in the Lebanese capital, which killed a senior Hezbollah commander, and the militant group launched dozens of rockets into Israel. Tens of thousands of Israeli and Lebanese people living near their countries' border have been displaced by the fighting.

Netanyahu spoke as he landed in New York to attend the annual gathering of world leaders at the U.N. General Assembly, where U.S. and European officials were putting heavy pressure on both sides of the conflict to accept a proposed 21-day halt in the fighting to give time for diplomacy and avert all-out war.

Nearly 700 people have been killed in Lebanon this week as Israel dramatically escalated strikes, saying it is targeting Hezbollah’s military capacities. Israeli leaders say they are determined to stop the group's cross-border attacks, which began after Hamas' Oct. 7 attack that ignited the war in Gaza.

Israel’s “policy is clear," Netanyahu said. "We are continuing to strike Hezbollah with full force. And we will not stop until we reach all our goals, chief among them the return of the residents of the north securely to their homes.”

Just before his comments, the Israeli military said it killed a Hezbollah drone commander, Mohammed Hussein Surour, in an airstrike in the suburbs of Beirut. Hezbollah later confirmed Surour's death.

The Health Ministry said two people were killed and 15 wounded in the strike. Associated Press photos of the scene showed a gutted apartment in a residential building in Dahiyeh, the mainly Shiite suburb where Hezbollah has a strong presence.

Until recently, Israel had rarely targeted sites in Beirut during the low-level conflict with Hezbollah that has been ongoing since October. However, in the past week, Israel has struck Beirut’s southern suburbs several times.

Over the past week, Israel has carried out several strikes in Beirut targeting senior Hezbollah commanders. One strike in eastern Lebanon on Thursday killed 20 people, most of them Syrian migrants, according to Lebanese health officials.

Israel hit 75 sites early Thursday across southern and eastern Lebanon and launched a new wave of strikes in the evening, the military said. Throughout the day, Hezbollah fired some 175 projectiles into Israel, the Israeli military said. Most were intercepted or fell in open areas, sparking some wildfires, though one rocket hit a street in a town near the northern city of Safed.

Israel has talked of a possible ground invasion into Lebanon to drive Hezbollah -- an Iranian-backed Shiite group that is the strongest armed force in Lebanon -- away from the border. It has moved thousands of troops to the north in preparation. Some 100,000 Lebanese have fled their homes in the past week, streaming into Beirut and points further north.

Israeli military vehicles transported tanks and armored vehicles toward the country’s northern border with Lebanon a day after commanders issued a call-up of reservists. Several tanks arrived in Kiryat Shmona, a hard-hit town just several miles from the border.

On another front, Israel’s military on Friday said it intercepted a missile fired from Yemen that set off air raid sirens across the country’s center. Sirens rang out across Israel’s populous central area, including the seaside metropolis of Tel Aviv. Another missile from Yemen landed in central Israel about two weeks ago.

The escalation has raised fears of a repeat – or worse – of the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah that wreaked destruction across southern Lebanon and other parts of the country and saw heavy Hezbollah rocket fire on Israeli cities.

“Another full-scale war could be devastating for both Israel and Lebanon,” U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said after talks with his British and Australian counterparts in London.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was at the U.N. meeting with Israeli officials over the truce proposal. Speaking in an interview with MSNBC, he said major powers, the Europeans and Arab nations were united, “everyone speaking with one clear voice about the need to get that cease-fire in the north.”

“I can’t speak for him,” Blinken said of Netanyahu.

Hezbollah has not yet responded to the proposal. Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati welcomed it, but his government has no sway over the group.

Netanyahu’s office downplayed the initiative, saying in a statement that it was only a proposal.

One of Netanyahu’s far-right governing partners threatened on Thursday to suspend cooperation with his government if it signs onto a temporary cease-fire with Hezbollah – and to quit completely if a permanent deal is reached. It was the latest sign of displeasure from Netanyahu’s allies toward international cease-fire efforts.

“If a temporary cease-fire becomes permanent, we will resign from the government,” said National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, head of the Jewish Power party.

If Ben-Gvir leaves the coalition, Netanyahu would lose his parliamentary majority and could see his government come toppling down, though opposition leaders have said they would offer support for a cease-fire deal.

Hezbollah has insisted it would halt its strikes only if there is a cease-fire in Gaza, where Israel has battled Hamas for nearly a year. That appears out of reach despite months of negotiations led by the United States, Egypt and Qatar.

One day after Hamas’ Oct 7 attack on southern Israel that triggered the war in Gaza, Hezbollah began firing rockets into northern Israel, bringing Israeli counterfire and a cycle of reprisals that has gone on near daily since. Hezbollah says its barrages are a show of support for Palestinians and that it is targeting Israeli military facilities, though rockets have also hit civilian areas.

Before this week, the cross-border exchanges had killed about 600 people in Lebanon, mostly militants but including more than 100 civilians, and about four dozen people in Israel, roughly half of them soldiers and the rest civilians. The fighting also forced tens of thousands to flee homes on both sides of the border.

Israel says its escalated strikes across Lebanon the past week are targeting Hezbollah rocket launchers and other military infrastructure. Since Monday, strikes have killed more than 690 people in Lebanon, around a quarter of them women and children, according to local health authorities.

The campaign opened with what is widely believed to be an Israeli attack on Sept. 18 and 19 detonating thousands of pagers and walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah, killing at least 39 people and maiming thousands more, including civilians.

Hezbollah in turn has fired hundreds of rockets into Israel. Several people in Israel have been wounded. On Wednesday, the group fired on Tel Aviv for the first time with a longer-range missile that was intercepted.

Early Thursday, an Israeli airstrike hit a building housing Syrian workers and their families near the ancient city of Baalbek in Lebanon’s eastern Bekaa Valley. The Lebanese Health Ministry said 19 Syrians and a Lebanese were killed, one of the deadliest single strikes in Israel’s intensified air campaign.

Hussein Salloum, a local official in Younine, said most of the dead were women and children. The state news agency had initially reported that 23 people were dead.

Lebanon, with a population of around 6 million, hosts nearly 780,000 registered Syrian refugees and hundreds of thousands who are unregistered — the world’s highest refugee population per capita.

Mroue reported from Beirut, Lidman from Tel Aviv. Associated Press journalist Sam McNeil contributed to this report from Kiryat Shmona, Israel.

Lebanese soldiers cordon off the area at the site of an Israeli airstrike in Beirut's southern suburbs, Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

A resident checks an apartment that was hit by an Israeli airstrike in Beirut's southern suburbs, Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Israeli Iron Dome air defense system fires to intercept rockets that were launched from Lebanon, as seen from Haifa, northern Israel, Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Baz Ratner)

A damaged building at the site of an Israeli airstrike in Beirut's southern suburbs, Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

A man carries a damaged bicycle at the site of an Israeli airstrike in Saksakieh, south Lebanon, Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)

A man carries pictures of his relatives standing at the site of an Israeli airstrike in Saksakieh, south Lebanon, Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)

Displaced children sit in a classroom in Beirut, after fleeing the Israeli airstrikes in the south with their families, Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

Displaced children play in a classroom at a school, in Beirut, after fleeing the Israeli airstrikes in the south with their families, Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

A displaced boy sleeps in a classroom in Beirut, after fleeing the Israeli airstrikes in the south with his family, Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

Displaced youth hug as they take shelter at a school in Beirut, after fleeing the Israeli airstrikes in the south with their families, Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

Displaced people gather in the hallway of a school in Beirut, after fleeing the Israeli airstrikes in the south, Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

Volunteers distribute clothes to displayed women at a school in Beirut, Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

Displaced women smoke waterpipes as they sit in a school in Beirut, Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

Displaced people sit in a school yard in Beirut, after fleeing the Israeli airstrikes in the south, Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

Displaced women and children sit in a classroom in Beirut, after fleeing the Israeli airstrikes in the south, Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

People take cover as a siren sounds a warning of incoming rockets fired from Lebanon, in Safed, northern Israel, Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

People run to take cover as a siren sounds a warning of incoming rockets fired from Lebanon, in Safed, northern Israel, Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

Ali Abdel Rahman Zorout, 5, who was wounded in an Israeli airstrike, poses for a picture at the Alaaeddine Hospital in Sarafand, south Lebanon, Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)

Fatima Abdel Rahman Zorout, 7, who was wounded in an Israeli airstrike, is wheeled on a gurney at the Alaaeddine Hospital in Sarafand, south Lebanon, Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)

A man carries a damaged bicycle at the site of an Israeli airstrike in Saksakieh, south Lebanon, Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)

A man stands on top of a damaged car at the site of an Israeli airstrike in Saksakieh, south Lebanon, Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)

A man reacts in a damaged apartment at the site of an Israeli airstrike in Saksakieh, south Lebanon, Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)

An emergency worker cuts concrete blocks as he searches for survivors at the scene of an Israeli airstrike in the town of Maisara, north of Beirut, Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)