Hurricane Katrina, in 2005, was a wake-up call for anyone who doubted the increasing power of hurricanes. Heavy winds, rain and especially a colossal storm surge resulted in 1,833 deaths. This 3D Image from NASA is based on GOES satellite data

Hurricanes Grow Stronger in New Era of Superstorms

Rapid intensification, higher wind speeds and heavier rains are fueled by warmer seas. And it’s going to get worse.

This article was updated Sept. 27 at 1 p.m. ET.

Hurricane Helene’s rapid intensification this week is both a reflection of the changing climate and a strong sign of worse superstorms to come.

Helene became a hurricane on Wednesday, Sept. 25. By Thursday night it had intensified into an extremely dangerous Category 4 storm with top sustained winds of 140 mph, before slamming into Florida’s Big Bend coast. “Helene is the 9th strongest hurricane since 1900 to make landfall in Florida based on minimum sea level pressure,” said longtime hurricane forecaster Philip Klotzbach, a research scientist at Colorado State University. And it’s “the strongest hurricane to make landfall in the Big Bend of Florida on record” since modern record-keeping began in 1851, he said.

Helene created record storm surges along the Florida coast and generated hurricane-force winds nearly as far north as Atlanta. After picking up tremendous amounts of water from the unusually warm Gulf of Mexico, Helene caused landslides amid record flooding in and around Asheville, North Carolina, more than 300 miles from where the storm…