Millions of people living on the Gulf Coast from Louisiana to Florida are being urged to prepare as Invest 97L continues to become better organized and will likely become Tropical Storm or Hurricane Helene as the system enters the Gulf of Mexico in the coming days.

The National Hurricane Center gives Invest 97L an 80 percent chance of development in the next 7 days; it could impact Florida.

Tropical Storm Helene continues to strengthen and is forecast to make landfall on the Big Bend Coast of Florida late Thursday night.

Forecasters say they expect Tropical Storm Helene in the Caribbean Sea to strengthen rapidly and become a hurricane as it moves north across the Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday toward the U.S. The Nationa

Another storm system is taking aim at Florida, this time possibly the Panhandle with storm effects all along the Gulf Coast. Tropical Storm Helene, soon to be a hurricane, is sweeping up from the Caribbean Sea into extremely warm waters that are fuel for tropical cyclones.

Helene is expected to rapidly intensify into a major and massive hurricane with 115-mph winds by the time it makes landfall Thursday.

Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday said Florida is preparing for a direct hit from a major hurricane that could intensify quickly before it makes landfall in the Panhandle later this week. The National Hurricane Center predicted a tropical storm currently in the Gulf of Mexico will become Hurricane Helene as it moves north toward Florida by Thursday.

Florida residents are already evacuating and filling sandbags days ahead of anticipated flooding from Tropical Storm Helene