Helene made landfall in the Big Bend region of Florida on Thursday night.
Helene -- which has strengthened to a major Category 4 hurricane -- made landfall in the Big Bend region of Florida on Thursday with 140 mph winds.
The National Weather Service issued an extreme wind warning for three cities in the Tallahassee area on Thursday night.
The warning is in effect until midnight in Perry, Madison and Monticello.
"Treat these imminent extreme winds as if a tornado was approaching and move immediately to an interior room or shelter NOW!" the agency said.
As Florida is bracing for Hurricane Helene to make landfall, heavy rain and winds are battering Florida's Gulf Coast.
Over 500,000 customers have lost power across Florida in the run up to Hurricane Helene making landfall.
As of 9 p.m. ET, 545,587 customers did not have power usage, according to poweroutage.us.
Helene is expected to make landfall between 10 p.m. and 11 p.m. ET in Florida's northeast Gulf Coast region.
Hurricane Helene's landfall is expected in the next few hours -- likely between 10 p.m. to 11 p.m. -- as a major Category 4 in Florida's Big Bend region.
As of 8 p.m. ET, hurricane-force gusts extend outward 60 miles from the center of the storm and tropical storm-force gusts extend outward 310 miles from the center.
Some additional strengthening is possible before the center reaches Florida's coast on Thursday.
Although weakening is expected after Helene moves inland, the storm is moving fast and it is powerful. Damaging wind gusts will penetrate well inland across the Southeastern states.
Ahead of Helene's landfall, there was a 76 mph gust reported in St. Pete.
