Biden declares emergency as Florida braces for Tropical Storm Helene

Joe Biden declared a state of emergency footing for Florida on Tuesday afternoon as the state braced for the prospect of Tropical Storm Helene swelling into a powerful hurricane heading for the state’s Gulf coast.

The US president ordered federal assistance to supplement state and local responses and the action authorizes the Department of Homeland Security and Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) to coordinate all disaster relief efforts to alleviate hardship and suffering, the White House said.

Helene has developed over the Caribbean and is forecast to strengthen into a major hurricane over the Gulf of Mexico some time on Wednesday with areas of Florida under alert, weather officials announced on Tuesday.

Forecasters are predicting that the center of the tropical storm will move across the far north-western Caribbean Sea through Tuesday night, and then move across the eastern Gulf on Wednesday and Thursday, and potentially reach the Florida coast late on Thursday.

Weather officials say that Helene is expected to become a hurricane on Wednesday and could become a “major hurricane” on Thursday. Experts are saying that Helene could become a category 3 or even category 4 by Thursday.

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