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The National Hurricane Center is predicted heavy rains for our area of South Alabama and Northwest Florida over the coming days as part of the impacts along the Gulf Coast from Hurricane Helen.

Deemed a tropical storm as of  Tuesday afternoon, the storm is expected to reach hurricane strength quickly and continue strengthening to a Category 3 storm before making landfall Thursday. Predictions indicate the storm will make landfall somewhere along the Big Bend region of Florida late Thursday as a category 3 storm.

For our area, 2 to 4 inches of rain is expected with heavy rains in a short amount of time having the potential to cause flash flooding, especially near the coast. Low-lying areas or areas prone to flooding will be impacted from the rain expected.

Please refer to the accompanying image to this story for a look at other areas expected to be impacted by heavy rains.