"Helene stands toe-to-toe with any of the threats that Florida has faced over the past ten years or indeed really over hurricane history."

The highest landfall probability is somewhere along the eastern part of the Florida Panhandle late Thursday evening, forecasters said.

Hurricane Helene is expected to strengthen into a powerful Category 3 storm before making landfall near Tallahassee, and forecasters are warning of potentially deadly storm surge along much of Florida's gulf coast.