Flash flood emergencies are ongoing in multiple states.
Helene made landfall in Florida's Big Bend region Thursday night as a massive Category 4 hurricane -- the strongest hurricane to make landfall in the Big Bend on record.
Helene has since weakened and is now post-tropical, but its remnants will continue to produce dangerous weather. The center of the storm is now over Kentucky with heavy rain and gusty winds across a large area from Missouri to Ohio to the Carolinas.
As Hurricane Helene nears landfall in Florida's Big Bend region Thursday night, it strengthened into a Category 4 storm with 130 mph winds.
As of 6:20 p.m. ET, the hurricane was located 120 miles west of Tampa and 165 miles south of Tallahassee. The storm was traveling northeast at 23 mph.
Landfall is forecast between 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. ET Thursday evening.
Hospitals in the path of Hurricane Helene are preparing for the storm to make landfall.
In Florida, Tampa General Hospital said in a statement Thursday afternoon that two hospitals were closed and evacuated and other facilities were closed.
"Due to the conditions expected, and for the safety of our patients and our team members, we have closed TGH Crystal River and the TGH Crystal River Emergency Center," the Tampa General Hospital statement said. "Patients who could safely go home were discharged and patients in need of continuing care were transferred to other locations in the region. We plan to reopen on Friday, September 27, as soon as it is safe for our team members to travel."
Hospitals in the Tallahassee and Atlanta areas also said they would close in preparation for the storm.
HCA Healthcare’s Florida division website lists 12 hospitals with restrictions as of Thursday evening, including notices that it has suspended services and relocated patients to other facilities in the state from at least two hospitals: West Tampa Hospital and Pasadena Hospital.
Mary Mayhew, president and CEO of the Florida Hospital Association, told ABC news that there have been at least six hospitals so far that have been evacuated in Florida due to Hurricane Helene.
As Hurricane Helene nears landfall in Florida, the storm has grown to Category 4 strength with 130 mph winds.
President Joe Biden addressed the dangerous conditions Hurricane Helene poses on its track to make landfall Thursday.
"Take this seriously. I -- from the bottom of my heart -- please take it seriously, anybody listening to this," Biden said during a White House event on gun violence.
"The tendency is to say, 'I can do this,' but you can't. Twenty-foot storm surge. You can't," Biden added.
Officials have forecast inundation from Hurricane Helene could reach as high as 20 feet in Florida's Big Bend region.
Biden also warned about the storm surge beyond just the path of the hurricane.
"The potential of storm surge is well beyond the immediate path [of] the hurricane; [it] could be significant and deadly," Biden added. "You know, for you and your family's sakes, I urge everyone in and near the path of the hurricane to listen to local officials and follow evacuation orders and be told to do so."
