Tropical weather in the Atlantic slams the Caribbean and may hit Southeast US next

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MIAMI (AP) — Crews spent Saturday preparing for a weather system that was forecast to become Tropical Storm Imelda late Saturday or early Sunday before approaching the coast of South Carolina as a hurricane early next week.

Meanwhile Hurricane Humberto strengthened into a strong Category 5 storm in the Atlantic and threatened the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico and Bermuda.

South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster urged people to monitor the weather closely and stay alert. And in North Carolina, Gov. Josh Stein declared a state of emergency in advance of the system currently called Tropical Depression Nine.

Those warnings came a year to the date after Helene devastated parts of the Carolinas.

Forecasters said the system was on track to become a tropical storm overnight or early Sunday and a hurricane by late Monday or Tuesday. It would be named Imelda.

As of late Saturday, the system was located about 100 miles (160 kilometers) southwest of the Central Bahamas and was headed northwest at 2 mph (4 kph). Its maximum sustained winds were 35 mph (55 kph), a little below the threshold for a Category 1 hurricane.

“What we learn every time is we never know where they are going to go,” McMaster said during a news conference to discuss the storm. “This storm is deadly serious. Not just serious. Deadly serious."

The storm could bring high winds and heavy rain, which could produce flooding, he said. The state was prepositioning search and rescue crews over the weekend.

Humberto had maximum sustained winds of 160 mph (260 kph), according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami. It was located about 365 miles (585 kilometers) north of the northern Leeward Islands and was moving northwest at 13 mph (20 kph).

Humberto could produce life-threatening surf and rip currents for the northern Leeward Islands, the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico and Bermuda over the weekend, forecasters said.

The National Weather Service in Puerto Rico issued a small craft advisory, urging people to stay ashore and avoid unnecessary trips, with swells from Humberto expected to reach about 7 feet (2 meters) in Atlantic waters. The service also advised people to heed the beach warning flag system because of the high risk of rip currents.

Tropical Depression Nine was threatening parts of Cuba and the Bahamas with heavy rainfall and flash flooding, with portions of the latter under a tropical storm warning. More warnings and watches were expected Saturday night and Sunday, the hurricane center said.

The Bahamas’ Department of Meteorology urged people in the northwest and central islands, which include Nassau, Andros Island, San Salvador and Long Island, to “make final preparations” for tropical storm conditions. The agency said it expected the center of the system to move across that region throughout Sunday.

A statement from the department said air force hurricane hunters were deployed to investigate the system. Maximum sustained winds on Saturday were about 35 mph (55 kph).

The department expected rainfall in the central and southeast Bahamas to reach between 4 and 8 inches (10 and 20 centimeters), with some isolated areas seeing up to 10 inches (25 centimeters).

“Residents in low-lying areas should take actions to mitigate property damages due to flooding,” it said in the statement.

The expected tropical storm was forecast to run parallel offshore of Florida's Atlantic coastline.

Officials across South Florida, which has been saturated by rain throughout September, continued to keep an eye on the system, and a tropical storm watch was issued for parts of the coastline north of West Palm Beach to an area north of Daytona Beach.

In Homestead, which was devastated by Hurricane Andrew in 1992, Emergency Manager Jaime Hernandez worried about complacency.

“Too many South Floridians who may have experienced limited impacts from storms that came close in recent years, such as Hurricane Irma in 2017, have come away from these events mistakenly believing they have ‘been through the big one,’” Hernandez said.

He noted that Homestead is one of only four communities in the continental U.S. to experience the catastrophic impacts of a Category 5 hurricane. “We know all too well the importance of having an emergency plan and remaining informed,” Hernandez said.

The tropical disturbance brought heavy rains to the Dominican Republic on Friday, leading authorities to evacuate hundreds of people and declare a red alert in five provinces.

Flooding in the southwestern province of Azua displaced at least 774 people, and 26 were being sheltered due to the overflowing of the Tabara River, Civil Defense spokesperson Jensen Sánchez said.

In the eastern Atlantic, the center of post-tropical cyclone Gabrielle moved away from the Azores. A hurricane warning for the entire Portuguese archipelago was discontinued.

Gabrielle was expected to approach Portugal’s coast by early Sunday. Swells expected to produce life-threatening surf and rip currents were expected to reach Portugal, northwestern Spain and northern Morocco on Saturday.

Hurricane Narda lost strength and became a tropical storm, according to forecasters.

As of late Saturday it was about 1,070 miles (1,725 kilometers) west-southwest of the southern tip of Mexico's Baja California Peninsula and was heading north-northwest at 5 mph (7 kph).

Swells generated by Narda were affecting coastal Mexico and Baja California Sur, forecasters said, and life-threatening surf and rip current conditions were possible in Southern California over the weekend.

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Associated Press writer Regina Garcia Cano in Caracas, Venezuela, contributed.