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.

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.

There is no modern reference point for Helene. This will very likely be the worst hurricane impact in living memory.

Hurricane Warnings and Storm Surge Warnings spread across the west coast of Florida as Helene is forecast to become a major hurricane, bringing the potential for life-threatening storm surge, flooding rain and destructive hurricane-force winds.

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