Hurricane Helene made landfall in Florida late Thursday night and has already resulted in one fatality and left at least one million without power.
Helene is the eighth named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, which began June 1.
The catastrophic storm – one of the largest ever recorded in the Gulf of Mexico strengthened to an “extremely dangerous ” Category 4 hurricane on Thursday with maximum-sustained winds of 140 mph impacting Florida’s Big Bend, according to the National Hurricane Center.
According to the NOAA, the storm made landfall around 11:10 p.m.
Hurricane Helene (PHOTO: NOAA)
NOAA
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said in a press conference late Thursday night that there has been one fatality as Hurricane Helene's dangerous conditions bombard the state.
The death occurred on the I-4 highway near Tampa when a sign fell on a car, according to ABC News.
"It just shows you that there are very dangerous conditions out there," DeSantis said.
DeSantis warned Floridians that there may be additional loss of life and property Thursday night and into Friday morning.
"When we wake up in the morning, chances are there will be more fatalities," DeSantis said.
Another press conference is scheduled for the morning.
At least one million customers are without power in Florida.
Outages extended into neighboring Southern states with over 46,000 customers without power in Georgia and over 12,400 customers without power in North Carolina, according to powerouttages.us.
According to ABC News, Virginia and South Carolina are facing power outages as well with over 7,200 and over 5,500 customers without power in each state respectively.
Experts say a large stretch of the Florida Panhandle could see “unsurvivable” storm surge of up to 20 feet.
Weather officials say that Helene will bring torrential rainfall - approximately 6 to 12 inches of rain which could lead to potentially life-threatening flash and urban flooding, along with significant river flooding, to Florida and beyond.
A state of emergency has been declared in 61 of Florida’s 67 counties, and several in the storm’s path are under evacuation orders.
Florida has 3,500 National Guard soldiers ready to respond to the storm, as well as 200 Florida High Patrol troopers at the ready and 550 generators and 40 large pumps from the Florida Departments of Transportation, according to NBC News.
Extreme wind damage is also expected up the Florida coast along I-95 into Tennessee, with widespread power outages likely.
After making landfall, Helene is expected to turn northwestward and slow down over the Tennessee Valley on Friday and Saturday.
According to the National Hurricane Center, some additional strengthening is possible.
On Thursday, the storm caused power outages in Cuba.
Airports in Tampa, Tallahassee and Clearwater were closed on Thursday, while more than half of the flights to airports in Sarasota and Fort Myers were canceled, according to FlightAware.
Delays were also reported at Atlanta, the world’s busiest airport, as were Charlotte, North Carolina, and Miami, Fort Lauderdale, and Orlando, in Florida, according to CNN.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has predicted an above-average Atlantic hurricane season this year because of record-warm ocean temperatures.
Tropical Storm #Isaac (Advisory 5) is likely to become a hurricane soon, according to the NOAA.
Follow live updates on the hurricane from ABC News:
Please continue to keep those in the path of the hurricane in your thoughts and prayers.
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