'People should not be there': 'Unsurvivable' 20-foot storm surge predicted as ferocious Hurricane Helene heads to Florida

A hurricane that is barreling toward Florida's coast could be one of the most dangerous storms in recent history to hit the state, forecasters say.

Hurricane Helene, which has been drawing strength from record-breaking warm waters in the Gulf of Mexico, is now a Category 3 storm and is expected to hit Florida's coast Thursday (Sept. 26) night or Friday (Sept. 27) morning, according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC).

As of 4 p.m. EDT, Helene had maximum sustained winds of 120 mph (193 km/h) and was moving northeast at 21 mph (33 km/h), with hurricane-force winds extending up to 60 miles (95 kilometers) from its center, according to the NHC. 

Once it makes landfall, Helene is expected to produce a significant storm surge of up to 20 feet (6 meters) above normal sea level. Storm-surge warnings are in effect along portions of Florida's Big Bend coast, and the surge has been forecast to be "unsurvivable" at Apalachee Bay, according to a warning issued by the Tallahassee branch of the National Weather Service (NWS).

"A catastrophic and deadly storm surge is likely along portions of the Florida Big Bend coast, where inundation could reach as high as 20 feet above ground level, along with destructive waves," the U.S. NWS wrote on X. "There is also a danger of life-threatening storm surge along the remainder of the west coast of the Florida Peninsula."

This is a potentially unsurvivable storm surge height.

"When you're talking about a storm surge greater than 10 feet [3 m] — which we're talking about for a large portion of the Florida Big Bend region — this is a storm surge that is very difficult to survive," Daniel Brown, the branch chief of the  the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Federal Hurricane Specialist Unit, told Live Science. "Ten feet is over the heads of humans and the water is going to be moving, [there will be] a lot of wave action especially right along the coast."