As Hurricane Helene approaches Florida, Georgia and Alabama, metro Atlanta and its surrounding communities are bracing for torrential rain, heavy flooding and widespread power outages.

Helene is expected to make landfall on Florida's Big Bend this evening as a major category 4 hurricane, bringing the risk of catastrophic damage.

Helene -- which has strengthened to a major Category 4 hurricane -- is taking aim at Florida, where it's forecast to make landfall along the Big Bend area on Thursday night. Latest DevelopmentsSep 26,