Mandatory evacuation underway as Helene barrels towards Florida

AccuWeather's Leslie Hudson reports on the worsening conditions from Gulfport, Florida, on September 26.

Transcript

00:00Here in Gulfport, Florida, this is definitely the worst of what we've seen from Helene.

00:06As you can see, those two sailboats, no match for these winds, which are easily 40 to 50

00:11miles an hour in gusts, expecting that to get worse, of course, in the coming hours.

00:15This area under a mandatory evacuation, a lot of folks are here, though, that are snapping

00:21photos, who are on social media.

00:23The police actually don't want people out here.

00:25We're out here, of course, trying to cover this, but it is expected to get worse.

00:29Now, Helene is just about south, due south of us, expected to continue to pull north,

00:35and we're really concerned when it gets north.

00:37The eye, because those winds will be wrapping back around towards the southwest, which will

00:42push a ton of water here in Gulfport, and it is expected to flood.

00:46We talked to one resident that lives here for 40 years, and here's what she had to say

00:50about hurricane season and Helene.

00:52We just need to buckle down, because it's going to be a good one.

00:55It's going to be a good one.

00:56It's going to get flooded over in this area, Gulfport.

01:00Why did you decide to stay this year?

01:02We didn't want to evacuate.

01:04We said we're just going to buckle down and just see what it does.

01:08Now, high tide here in Gulfport is expected at 11 p.m.

01:12That's when the weather will be worst.

01:14We're going to expect that real brutal onshore wind.

01:16Storm surge expected here between 5 and 8 feet.

01:20As you can see, it's already pretty bad now.

01:21We'll continue to keep you updated.

01:23For now, we're in Gulfport, Florida.

01:25I'm Leslie Hudson for AccuWeather.

01:27Back to you.