Good Morning America Full Broadcast — Saturday, December 21, 2024 
Helene reached hurricane status Wednesday and was forecast to grow more powerful and dangerous before making landfall late Thursday on Florida’s Gulf Coast as a devastating, Category 3 hurricane.
The National Hurricane Center said Helene would rapidly strengthen over the eastern Gulf of Mexico before making landfall while driving winds of 120-125 mph − and warned that “upward adjustments to the forecast intensity” could be required as the storm closes in.
The highest landfall probability was somewhere along the eastern part of the Florida Panhandle − possibly the Big Bend area, the curve of Florida’s peninsula around the Gulf of Mexico − late Thursday, AccuWeather forecasters said. Near where Helene makes landfall, general rainfall of 8-12 inches is forecast, with 2 feet of rain possible in isolated areas.
