As Hurricane Helene pounded this tiny coastal community Thursday night, Charles and Dana Webb abandoned their wooden cottage, seeking shelter in a sturdier concrete house next door. They spent the next two hours huddled in a bathtub with their Great Dane puppy as the Category 4 storm raged outside.

Energy facilities along the U.S. Gulf Coast reduced operations and evacuated production sites as Hurricane Helene, initially a Category 4 storm, made landfall before weakening to a tropical storm. Helene roared ashore in Florida's Big Bend region as one of the most powerful storms to hit the United States,

Helene is expected to bring massive amounts of life-threatening storm surge to nearly the entire Gulf Coast. Forecasters now expect up to 20 feet of storm surge above ground in the Big Bend area. But damaging levels will be felt further south, including up to 8 feet above ground in the Tampa Bay area.

Hurricane Helene strengthened into a Category 4 storm ahead of its expected landfall on Florida’s northwest coast

Helene is expected to rapidly intensify into a major and massive hurricane with 115-mph winds by the time it makes landfall Thursday.

Energy facilities along the U.S. Gulf Coast scaled back operations and evacuated some production sites as Hurricane Helene is expected to bring catastrophic winds and storm surges to the northeastern Gulf Coast.

It’s already battering the state’s west coast with tropical storm-force winds and has caused hundreds of thousands of power outages.

Massive storm surge in Steinhatchee leveled businesses, flooded homes and blocked roads in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene