Hurricane Helene is gaining strength and is expected to rapidly intensify as it approaches Florida on Thursday. The National Hurricane Center says the storm will bring "catastrophic" winds and storm surge to the northeastern Gulf coast.

Helene, currently a Category 1 hurricane, is forecast to make landfall between 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. Thursday as a major Category 3 hurricane. Helene is a large storm, so it could bring life-threatening storm surge for the entire West Coast of the Florida Peninsula.

Hurricane Helene tore through Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas, leaving behind a trail of devastation after the Category 4 hurricane made landfall Thursday night in the rural Big Bend in Florida, the Associated Press reported.