A low-pressure area could form in the western Caribbean Sea and move into the Gulf of Mexico just days after Hurricane Helene devastated Florida and the Tampa Bay area, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) said in a hurricane forecast on September 28. The system could strengthen into a tropical depression by mid-next week.
Although the depression is not expected to strengthen in the next 48 hours, forecasters have given a 50% chance of it developing within a week.
Two other named storms, Hurricane Isaac and Tropical Storm Joyce, are also developing in the Atlantic but do not pose an immediate threat to the United States.
The next named storm will be called Kirk and will be the 11th named storm of the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season.
Meanwhile, Hurricane Helene has killed at least 60 people in five US states and the number is likely to rise.
The National Weather Service in Greenville-Spartanburg, South Carolina, described Hurricane Helene as the worst hurricane in its modern history; it said it was "devastated by the horrific flooding and widespread wind damage caused by Hurricane Helene" and that "words are out of the question" about the number of people killed by the storm.
More than 400 roads remained closed in western North Carolina as of the morning of September 28. Parts of Interstates 40 and 26, major routes into and out of Asheville, remained closed due to flooding or mudslides.
Since September 26, Buncombe County has received more than 5,500 911 calls and performed more than 130 rescues from flooding and rushing water.
According to PowerOutage.us, Hurricane Helene continued to cause power outages in several states across the eastern United States on September 28, leaving about 3.1 million customers in areas such as South Carolina, Georgia, North Carolina, Florida and Ohio in the dark.
Hurricane Helene caused flash floods, mudslides and tornadoes as it moved inland after hitting Florida's Gulf Coast, with winds of up to 140 mph.
The devastation caused by Hurricane Helene stretched nearly 800 miles from South Florida to the Appalachian Mountains on September 27. Helene’s destructive power led many to call it a “monster” storm.
Hurricane Helene is the strongest storm to hit the US in more than a year and is as destructive as Typhoon No. 3 Yagi in Asia in early September.
