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.
Hurricane warnings were issued for the northwestern Florida coastline and part of Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula. Hurricane watches were issued for parts of western Cuba and Florida, including Tampa Bay, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said. A tropical storm warning was issued for parts of Cuba and Florida's southwestern coastline, including the Florida Keys.
The storm was 150 miles south of the western tip of Cuba, had sustained winds of 50 mph and was moving northwest at 12 mph. It was expected to strengthen into Hurricane Helene on Wednesday as it approached the Gulf Coast and could become a major hurricane Thursday.
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.
Get top local stories in San Diego delivered to you every morning. Sign up for NBC San Diego's News Headlines newsletter.
Ahead of the storm’s arrival on the state’s Gulf Coast as soon as late Thursday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis increased the counties included in the high-risk area Tuesday from 41 to 61.
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.
Because the storm is so massive, it is important not to look just at where it is tracking, warned Larry Kelly, a specialist at the hurricane center, as around 10 Florida counties urged or ordered evacuations.
“It’s going to be a very large system with impacts across all of Florida,” he said. "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.
When it hit, Summers waded with his cat in his arms as waters began rising rapidly in his parents' house. Their house and his home were destroyed.
“That was such a traumatic experience that that is not the place I needed to be for myself,” he said Tuesday as he evacuated with a friend to Marianna, a town farther inland.
If Tropical Storm Helene follows the same paths as two previous hurricanes that hit Florida in the past year or so, the state will have a quicker recovery and won’t take as big an economic hit, Florida’s chief financial officer said Tuesday.
That’s because Hurricane Idalia, which hit Florida in August 2023, and Hurricane Debby, which came ashore last August, took down vulnerable structures and trees which would have caused debris, said Jimmy Patronis, Florida’s chief financial officer.
Helene 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.
Helene, the eighth named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, could strengthen into a major Category 3 hurricane — with winds of at least 111 mph — before approaching the northeastern Gulf Coast. Since 2000, eight major hurricanes have made landfall in Florida, according to Philip Klotzbach, a Colorado State University hurricane researcher.
Given the anticipated large size, storm surge, wind and rain will extend far from the center of the expected storm, especially on the eastern side. Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp has declared a state of emergency. And states as far inland as Tennessee, Kentucky and Indiana could see rainfall associated with the storm.
A storm surge warning was in effect for Florida's Tampa Bay, Charlotte Harbor, and from Indian Pass south to Flamingo. Florida and Georgia's eastern coasts, from Palm Beach to the Savannah River, were under a tropical storm watch.
A tropical storm warning for Grand Cayman was dropped. Authorities urged people to stay indoors as the storm moved away and said crews would soon fan out to assess damage.
The sun shone Tuesday in Tarpon Springs, Florida, but residents already filled sandbags as they braced for potential flooding.
Officials in the Cayman Islands closed schools, airports and government offices as strong winds knocked out power in some areas of Grand Cayman, while heavy rain and waves as high as 10 feet unleashed flooding.
Many in Cuba worried about the storm, whose tentacles are expected to reach the capital of Havana, which is struggling with a severe shortage of water, piles of uncollected garbage and chronic power outages.
Helene is expected to slip between Cuba and Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula early Wednesday and then head north across the Gulf of Mexico.
Up to 8 inches of rain is forecast for western Cuba and the Cayman Islands with isolated totals of 12 inches. Up to 6 inches of rain is expected for the eastern Yucatan, with isolated totals of more than 8 inches.
Heavy rainfall also was forecast for the southeastern U.S. starting Wednesday, threatening flash and river flooding, according to the National Hurricane Center. Up to 8 inches of rain was forecast for the region, with isolated totals of 12 inches.
A storm surge of up to 15 feet was forecast from Ochlockonee River, Florida, to Chassahowitzka, and up to 10 feet from Chassahowitzka to Anclote River and from Indian Pass to Ochlockonee River.
The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 to Nov. 30. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has predicted an above-average Atlantic hurricane season this year because of record-warm ocean temperatures. It forecast 17 to 25 named storms, with four to seven major hurricanes of Category 3 or higher.
In the Pacific, former Hurricane John killed two people after it barreled into Mexico’s southern Pacific coast, blowing tin roofs off houses, triggering mudslides and toppling scores of trees, officials said Tuesday.
