Helene is strengthening as it moves toward the U.S. Gulf Coast. It is expected to become a hurricane today and will hit Florida's Big Bend on Thursday.

The highest landfall probability is somewhere along the eastern part of the Florida Panhandle late Thursday evening, forecasters said.

Florida A &M University, the University of Tampa, the University of Florida and Florida State University’s Tallahassee campus have all announced closures ahead of Hurricane Helene’s landfall. The University of Tampa is under a mandatory evacuation order.