One person has died in Florida and there have been two confirmed deaths in Georgia, after Hurricane Helene slammed into the U.S. southeastern coast overnight. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said a driver was killed when debris struck their car and warned that other deaths could come to light in the morning.

Helene steadily strengthened into a Category 2 hurricane early Thursday morning and is poised to strike the northeastern Gulf coast tonight as a major hurricane, bringing catastrophic winds and storm surge into Florida’s Big Bend from east of Apalachicola to Florida’s Nature Coast,

Helene could bring storm surge to the entire west coast — up to 15 feet near landfall in Taylor and Dixie Counties, and up to 8 feet in the Tampa Bay region. Six inches of rain could blanket the west coat, with up to 8 inches near Tampa Bay and the Big Bend area.