Hurricane Helene intensified into a major Category 4 hurricane with 140 mph making landfall Thursday night bringing devastating winds and storm surge to Florida’s Big Bend, according to the

Hurricane Helene leaves three dead amid threat of flash flooding all the way up to Atlanta, with swath of FL in path of 15-20 ft. storm surge.

Victims caught by the surge get battered by rough seas and debris, often drowning in the rising flood. Research of hurricanes hitting the U.S. mainland over the last half-century showed storm surges are responsible for about half of 2,