Hurricane Helene races towards Florida

Crawfordville: Parts of Florida face "unsurvivable" conditions when Hurricane Helene hits later Thursday, the US weather service said, warning that howling wind will drive destructive waves and storm surge as high as 20 feet (six meters) onto the low-lying coast.

Residents heeded mass evacuation orders and fled ahead of the incoming hurricane -- projected to be one of the largest Gulf of Mexico storms in decades.

The fast-moving and intensifying storm was at Category 2 mid-day Thursday, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) in Miami said, packing wind speeds of 105 miles (169 kilometers) an hour as it churned over the gulf's warm waters.

The NHC said Helene is expected to make landfall at or near Florida's Big Bend coast in the evening as a major Category 3 and possibly even Category 4 storm.

The hurricane center minced no words on X, saying: "EVERYONE along the Florida Big Bend coast is at risk of potentially catastrophic storm surge."

Tampa and Tallahassee airports have already closed, and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis urged residents to rush final preparations ahead of the storm.

It's a "very dangerous hurricane," NHC director Mike Brennan said.

"We're expecting to see a storm surge inundation of 15 to 20 feet (4.5-six meters) above ground level," he said. "That's up to the top of a second story building. Again, a really unsurvivable scenario is going to play out here in this portion of the Florida coastline."

The accompanying waves "can destroy houses, move cars, and that water level is going to rise very quickly," Brennan added.

Despite the dire forecast Patrick Riickert refused to evacuate from his small wooden house in Crawfordville, a town of 5,000 people halfway between Tallahassee and the coast -- and that will almost certainly be walloped by Helene.