A hurricane's category describes potential wind damage but does not describe other deadly hurricane hazards such as storm surge.

Hurricane Helene is already a large storm in the Gulf of Mexico, and it's expected to grow larger and stronger before making landfall over Florida's Big Bend region on Thursday evening.

Florida’s Big Bend region is facing Hurricane Helene’s onslaught this evening, bringing warnings of 20-foot storm surges, dangerous winds as far north as the Carolinas, and possibly catastrophic flooding across the southern Appalachians.