The US National Hurricane Center (NHC) forecast on September 28 said that a low pressure area could form in the western Caribbean Sea and move into the Gulf of Mexico just days after Helene devastated Florida and the Tampa Bay area. The system could strengthen into a tropical depression by mid-next week.
Although the depression is not expected to intensify for the next 48 hours, forecasters have given a 50% chance of developing within a week.
Two other named storms, Isaac and Tropical Storm Joyce, are also developing in the Atlantic but pose no 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, Helene has killed at least 60 people in five US states, and that number is likely to rise.
The National Weather Service in Greenville-Spartanburg, South Carolina, described Helene as the worst storm in the agency's modern history; said it was "destroyed by terrible flooding and widespread wind damage caused by Helene" and "no words" could describe the number of people killed by the storm.
More than 400 roads remain closed in western North Carolina as of the morning of September 28 local time. Several sections of Interstate Highway 40 and 26, the main routes to and from Asheville, remain closed due to flooding or landslides.
Since September 26, Buncombe County has received more than 5,500 911 calls and conducted more than 130 rescue efforts 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, landslides and tornadoes as it moved inland after hitting the Florida Gulf Coast, with winds of up to 225 km/h.
The devastation caused by Hurricane Helene extended nearly 1,287km from South Florida to the Appalachian Mountains on September 27. Helene's destructive power has 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.
