Tropical Storm Helene formed Tuesday in the Caribbean Sea and could strengthen into a major hurricane while moving north toward the U.S., forecasters said. Heavy rains and big waves already lashed the Cayman Islands, and some Florida residents began to evacuate or fill sandbags ahead of anticipated flooding.
Helene was expected to strengthen into a hurricane on Wednesday, and it could become a major hurricane before it arrives on Florida’s Gulf Coast as soon as late Thursday. The storm was 145 miles (235 kilometers) south of the western tip of Cuba, had sustained winds of 60 mph (95 kph) and was moving northwest at 12 mph (19 kph).
As the storm approached the Gulf Coast, hurricane warnings were issued for the northwestern Florida coastline and part of Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, and hurricane watches were in effect for parts of western Cuba and Florida, including Tampa Bay, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.
Parts of Cuba and Florida’s southwestern coastline, including the Florida Keys, were under tropical storm warnings. Nearly the entirety of Florida’s west coast was under a storm surge warning.
In the U.S., federal authorities are positioning generators, food and water, along with search-and-rescue and power restoration teams, as President Joe Biden declared an emergency in Florida. Gov. Ron DeSantis also declared a state of emergency for most of the state’s counties, 10 of which were urging or ordering evacuations.
The storm is expected to move over deep, warm waters, fueling its intensification. People in regions under watches and warnings should be prepared to lose power and should have enough food and water for at least three days, forecasters warned.
The tropical storm prompted NASA and SpaceX to bump Thursday’s planned astronaut launch to at least Saturday. And Florida A&M University postponed its upcoming college football game against Alabama A&M.
The storm is anticipated to be unusually large and fast-moving, meaning storm surge, wind and rain will likely extend far from the storm’s center, the hurricane center said. Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp has declared a state of emergency. And states as far inland as Tennessee, Kentucky and Indiana could see rainfall.
“It’s going to be a very large system with impacts across all of Florida,” said Larry Kelly, a specialist at the center. “Stay up to date with the latest forecast and heed your local officials.”
Hal Summers, a restaurant worker in Mexico Beach, Florida, needed no reminding after he barely survived Hurricane Michael in 2018. DeSantis has said Helene is reminiscent of that Category 5 hurricane, which rapidly intensified and caught residents off guard before plowing a destructive path across the western Florida Panhandle.
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