Fueled by the extremely warm waters in the Gulf of Mexico, which quickly strengthened, Hurricane Helene came ashore as a mighty one Category 4 storm along the coast of Florida’s Big Bend late Thursday night, then quickly lost strength and was downgraded to a tropical storm within hours, according to the National Hurricane Center.

The center described Helene as a “very dangerous and major major hurricane” with “damaging hurricane force winds and catastrophic storm surges” when it made landfall, and said Helene was still producing a “life-threatening” storm surge, high winds and heavy rain. hours later.

It was storming a major hurricane when it made landfall near Perry, Florida, at 11:10 p.m. Eastern time Thursday, with maximum sustained winds of 140 miles per hour.

As of 11 a.m. EDT, Helene was about 30 miles (48 kilometers) southwest of Bryson City, North Carolina, and was racing north at 32 mph (52 km/h), the Miami hurricane center said. It had maximum sustained winds of 45 mph.

Path of Hurricane Helene

A National Hurricane Center map showed Helene moving north through Georgia on Friday morning, with impacts also being felt in South Carolina and parts of North Carolina.

After landfall, Helene was expected to “turn northwest and slow over the Tennessee Valley on Friday and Saturday,” the hurricane center said.

In northwest Florida, storm surge was a major problem when Helene arrived. Forecasters expected storm surge to reach 5 to 10 feet from Florida’s Aucilla River to Chassahowitzka, Florida. Other areas could see anywhere from 3 to 6 feet of water, the hurricane center warned.

As the storm continues, parts of the Southeastern and Southern Appalachians could see total rain accumulations of 6 to 12 inches, with some areas getting as much as 20 inches, forecasters say, causing some flooding in the region and a threat of landslides in steep terrain entails.

“We have already seen double-digit rainfall in western North Carolina and could see another two feet or more. That means there is a risk of catastrophic and life-threatening flash flooding,” said The Weather Channel meteorologist Stephanie Abrams. “CBS Mornings” Friday, adding that flooding could extend all the way to the Mississippi River.

“All this water will cause rivers to rise, some of which could shatter their records by several feet,” Abrams said.

Prior to landfall, Helene rapidly intensified above the record warm waters in the Gulf of Mexico. According to an analysis by Climate Central, high ocean temperatures at this location have become 200 times more likely due to climate change.

“This is the fourth hurricane to make landfall on the Gulf Coast this year. This has only happened five times in history,” Abrams noted.