Forecasters said Hurricane Helene will intensify rapidly over the next 24 hours and grow huge as it approaches landfall on Florida’s Panhandle. Residents began to flee ahead of the storm.

Hurricane Helene escalated to a dangerous Category 3 hurricane Thursday afternoon as it headed toward Florida’s Gulf Coast as a massive, powerful storm. It was expected within hours to drown some rural, coastal communities in northern areas with a towering surge of up to 20 feet of seawater, plus torrential rains and destructive winds.