Hurricane Helene made landfall Thursday night in northwestern Florida as a Category 4 storm.
The National Hurricane Center said Helene roared ashore around 11:10 p.m. near Perry, Florida, in the Big Bend area of the state’s Gulf Coast. It had maximum sustained winds of 140 mph, and officials forecast storm surges of up to 20 feet.
As of 1 a.m. Friday, the eyewall of the extremely dangerous storm moved into Georgia and was accelerating north-northeast.
Helene is forecast to move northeast before weakening significantly over Georgia and turning northwest.
The NBC2 First Alert Hurricane Tracking team continues to track the local impacts from Helene.
The Tornado Watch has been canceled for all of Southwest Florida.
Southwest Florida remains under a Tropical Storm Warning .
A Storm Surge Warning has been issued for all of coastal Southwest Florida. This means life-threatening levels of storm surge are possible in the advised area.
For coastal Collier, Lee and Charlotte County, storm surge could peak between 3-5 feet.
Because of the risk of storm surge, evacuations orders have been issued on Charlotte County's barrier islands.
Gusts have reached 60+ mph along our coast. The wind has maintained 20-30 mph inland. Wind gusts are expected to decrease overnight.
Rain bands will continue to move onshore tonight and throughout the day on Friday. The heaviest rain is expected to be near the coast with lower rain totals inland.
Rainfall totals are forecast to range from 3 to 5" in areas of coastal Collier, Lee and Charlotte Counties. For inland areas, east of I-75, rain totals will be much lower.
Keep in mind our region is particularly vulnerable to flooding coming off our wettest summer on record, running 15 inches above average for the year so far.
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