Meteorologists monitoring Hurricane Helene expect it to become a major hurricane Thursday morning before making a Florida Panhandle landfall in the evening. Helene couldl bring strong winds, intense storm surge and heavy rain to a wide swath of Florida’s Gulf Coast, including the Tampa Bay area.

Helene -- which has strengthened to a major Category 3 hurricane -- is taking aim at Florida, where it's forecast to make landfall along the Big Bend area on Thursday night. North Carolina and Georgia have declared states of emergency ahead of Hurricane Helene, their governors announced on Wednesday.