Potential Tropical Cyclone 9 expected to make landfall Thursday as a hurricane.
A state of emergency has been declared for 41 counties in Florida, including Columbia, Hamilton, Lafayette and Suwannee, ahead of a storm expected to make landfall later this week.
Gov. Ron DeSantis made the emergency declaration Monday afternoon in regards to Potential Tropical Cyclone 9, which is expected to make landfall Thursday evening.
According to the Columbia County Emergency Management Department after a 1:30 p.m. call Monday with the National Weather Service, the primary threats to the area are currently expected to be high winds and tornadoes.
The exact location of where the storm will make landfall in Florida is not known, but could impact either the Panhandle or the Big Ben region of Florida.
The storm is expected to become a hurricane by Wednesday morning. If it does become a named storm, it will be Helene.
“This is a broad storm so we will feel impacts as it moves through the area,” according to a release from Columbia County Emergency Management. “The impacts may increase with a more Easterly approach, or they may diminish if it moves further west.”
Emergency Management is encouraging people to make preparations, including taking stock of storm supplies and overall emergency plan.