Helene strengthens to Category 2, closing in on Florida: Live updates

 Hurricane Helene strengthened  to a Category 2 storm Thursday and was forecast to grow even more powerful before roaring ashore overnight along Florida's panhandle.

Helene was gaining power as it swept across the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico and could be wielding winds of up to 132 mph and driving 20 feet of water into anxious coastal communities at landfall. Almost 80 million people in Florida and across the Southeast were under hurricane or tropical storm warnings.

On Florida's targeted Big Bend coast, Wakulla County Sheriff Jared Miller warned residents Thursday there was little time left to flee. Current estimates have Wakulla, in Florida's targeted Big Bend area, receiving "catastrophic" storm surge of over 20 feet, he said in a Facebook post.

"This will not be a survivable event for those in coastal or low lying areas," Miller said. "There has not been a storm of this magnitude to hit Wakulla in recorded history."

Hurricane Helene tracker:

See projected path of 'catastrophic' storm as Florida braces

∎ The storm was centered about 320 southwest of Tampa early Thursday. Maximum sustained winds were 100 mph, and Helene was headed north-northeast at 12 mph.

∎ President Joe Biden, along with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, have declared emergencies in anticipation of the storm's impact. Biden deployed Federal Emergency Management Agency teams and resources to Florida and Alabama to assist local first responders.