The latest hurricane report from the US National Hurricane Center on the morning of September 30 said that Imelda is causing heavy rain in the North Caribbean. The storm is located about 190km north of Great Abaco Island, Bahamas.
Imelda has maximum sustained winds of up to 100 km/h and is moving north at 15 km/h. According to the US National Hurricane Center in Miami, Imelda is forecast to strengthen into a hurricane on the morning of September 30 and move out to the ocean.
A tropical storm warning is in effect for some areas in the extreme northwest of the Bahamas, including Great Abaco, Grand Bahama Island and surrounding islands. Power outages have been reported in some areas, public authorities on the affected islands have been temporarily suspended and mandatory evacuation orders have been imposed on some islands.
US hurricane forecasters say Imelda is expected to bring 100 to 200mm of rain across the northwestern Bahamas through September 30 and 50 to 100mm across eastern Cuba.
Cuban state media reported that a 60-year-old man in Santiago de Cuba died in a landslide.
Imelda has forced about 1,291 people across Cuba to evacuate, of which 158 have to stay in shelters.
Meanwhile, Hurricane Humberto, a Category 4 hurricane, is moving strongly over the nearby waters. Forecasters say Humberto's strength has prompted Imelda to suddenly turn east-northeast, away from the southeastern coast of the United States.
"This is what will really save the US from heavy rains," said Alex DaSilva, AccuWeather's top hurricane expert.
Da Silva added that the two storms will get closer and start rotating counterclockwise around each other, forming the Fujiwhara effect. This is a very rare phenomenon in the Atlantic basin, he said.
Typhoon Humberto has maximum sustained winds of 220 km/h. The storm is located about 475km southwest of Bermuda, moving north-northwest at a speed of 20km/h. Bermuda is issuing a hurricane warning.
In the US, moisture from Imelda is expected to move to northern North Carolina, with heavy rain forecast to last until the morning of September 30. The heaviest rains will be limited to coastal areas, from Charleston in South Carolina to Wilmington in North Carolina.
Although Imelda did not make landfall in Florida, the impact of the latest Atlantic storm was still clearly felt.
Bermuda officials expect the two double storms to not make landfall directly this weekend but will approach the island, with Imelda possibly approaching about 24km. "This will be a double blow for Bermuda, first for Humberto and closely followed by Imelda," Da Silva said.
