As Hurricane Helene approaches Florida's Big Bend coast, the National Weather Service (NWS) has issued a dire warning, calling the expected storm surge "unsurvivable." The rapidly intensifying storm is forecast to make landfall on Thursday evening as a Category 3 or stronger hurricane and evacuations have been ordered for several Florida counties.

In a special update from the National Hurricane Center, Helene made landfall just east of the mouth of the Aucilla River. This is about 10 miles west-southwest of Perry, Florida. Based on data from Air Force reconnaissance aircraft, the maximum sustained winds are estimated to be 140 mph.

Nearly the entire state of Florida is under some sort of tropical weather alert, with Tropical Storm Warnings extending hundreds of miles inland into Georgia and the Carolinas,