Hurricane Hélène made landfall late Thursday night (local time) over the US state of Florida, the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said.

“Based on NWS (US National Weather Service) Doppler radar data, the eye of (Cyclone) Hélène made landfall” in the Big Bend area of northern Florida “at about 23:10” (ed. local time; 06:10 GMT), the NHC clarified.

The hurricane earlier strengthened to a category 4 on the five-point Saffir-Simpson scale, with winds of up to 215 kilometers per hour, and could prove particularly destructive.