TALLAHASSEE, United States (AFP) — Across the northern Florida coast, most small towns were deserted on Thursday, with stores closed and windows boarded up to protect against the high winds and potentially devastating storm surge of Hurricane Helene.

The storm was hours away from hitting the state’s “Big Bend” region, with the area from the Florida capital Tallahassee to the Gulf of Mexico coast at particular risk, according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC).

While many heeded evacuation orders, some, like Lance Palmer, were still making final preparations.

In the early afternoon, the actor and musician filled up his Jeep and prepared to leave his home in the town of Panacea, on the edge of the ocean.

“I was kind of checking conditions and trying to make a call if I should leave or not,” he said.

“What happened this morning was that flood waters were already half way up to my house,” he added. “So I thought, ‘Man, I need to go.'”

Nearby, at the same gas station, John Luper has a problem — he wants to move to higher ground, but his mother and brother refuse to listen.

“They’re not going to leave,” he said, filling jerry cans with fuel. “I’m stuck with them.”

The area where the Lupers live, near Appalachian Bay, could experience storm surges of up to 20 feet (six metres) high, authorities have warned.

Further north, in Tallahassee, the Red Cross was working against the clock to shelter those who have nowhere to go during the storm.

In one of its makeshift shelters, on a school basketball court, the organisation was distributing food to the dozens of people who have come, including adults, children and the elderly.

Some set up pillows and cushions on the floor to try to spend the next few hours as comfortably as possible.

Greg Farnsley preferred to spend his time outside, smoking a cigarette while sitting on a bench — before the hurricane makes it impossible to venture out.

He and his wife had planned to hunker down in their motor home, just a few miles inland, but the intensity of the storm scared them off.

“I am glad I am here and not home,” said the 66-year-old. “It’s way safer than staying at home.”

“I only hope that come tomorrow afternoon the roads back home will be clear and my home will still be there the same way I left it.”