Tallahassee – Gov. Ron DeSantis said Wednesday that “time is running out” for Gulf Coast residents, particularly in North Florida’s Big Bend region, to finalize preparations as powerful Hurricane Helene is poised to slam into the state Thursday.

Tallahassee – Hurricane and storm-surge watches were in effect Tuesday for much of Florida’s Gulf Coast as a weather system is expected to rapidly grow into “a potentially very dangerous storm” and hit the state as a hurricane this week.