Damage assessments and rescue operations are underway as the brunt of the storm hit the state’s Big Bend, also the landing site for Hurricane Idalia just over a year ago.

Helene continues to weaken and is now a tropical storm after it made landfall along Florida’s Big Bend region late Thursday night as a powerful Category 4 hurricane. Many now face threats of flash flooding.

A catastrophic and deadly storm surge is likely along portions of the Florida Big Bend coast, where inundation could reach as high as 20 feet.