Helene strengthens to ‘extremely dangerous’ Category 4 hurricane: US officials

Hurricane Helene strengthened to an “extremely dangerous” Category 4 storm Thursday evening, as it barreled toward landfall on the Florida coast, US meteorologists said.

“Helene now an extremely dangerous Category 4 hurricane,” the National Hurricane Center said. “A NOAA Hurricane Hunter aircraft currently investigating Helene recently found that the maximum sustained winds have increased to 130 mph (215 km/h).”