Helene knocked out power in western Cuba as it brushed past the island, affecting some 160,000 customers in the province of Artemisa and another 70,000 in the neighboring province of Pinar del Río. The hurricane also forced some 800 people in the region to evacuate flood-prone zones,

Louis Ward, 57, rides his bike along the the Gulfport waterfront as it takes on water as Hurricane Helene makes its way toward the Florida Panhandle, Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024 in Gulfport. Neighbors chat on a flooded street after the passage of Hurricane Helene in Guanimar, Artemisa province, Cuba, Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024.

Fast-moving Hurricane Helene is advancing across the Gulf of Mexico toward Florida, and it has been upgraded to a Category 2 storm.

Powerful storm Helene officially became a hurricane this morning, the National Hurricane Center said, packing maximum sustained winds of 80 mph as it churned in the eastern Gulf of Mexico just off the coast of the Yucatan Peninsula.

Residents of Florida’s Gulf Coast brace for Hurricane Helene as Cuba is left flooded from the slow moving storm on Thursday, .