Hurricane Helene on path for Florida with significant strengthening expected before landfall
CBSN
Helene strengthened into a hurricane Wednesday as it was leaving the Caribbean Sea on a path for Florida's Gulf Coast. The hurricane was expected to become more powerful as it moves through the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico.
The storm had maximum sustained winds of 80 mph Wednesday morning, making it a Category 1 storm, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami. The hurricane center uses five categories for hurricanes and considers storms that are at least a Category 3, with sustained winds over 110 mph, to be a major hurricane.
"We think that significant strengthening is going to occur here over the eastern Gulf of Mexico, potentially taking this to a Category 3 or major hurricane," Jamie Rhome, a deputy director at the hurricane center, told CBS News on Wednesday.
An American Airlines jet with 60 passengers and four crew members aboard collided with an Army helicopter Wednesday night while coming in for a landing at Ronald Reagan National Airport near Washington. The Black Hawk helicopter was carrying a crew of three. Officials said early Thursday that everyone on board both aircraft is believed dead, which would make it the deadliest U.S. air crash in nearly a quarter century.