MIAMI, Sept 24, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - The US state of Florida on Tuesday was preparing for the arrival of Storm Helene, due to make landfall later in the week as a powerful Category 3 hurricane.

Helene, currently churning over the Caribbean with maximum sustained winds of 45 miles (75 kilometers) per hour, is projected to rapidly strengthen through the Gulf of Mexico before slamming into the Florida coast on Thursday.

Ron DeSantis, governor of the southeastern state, has expanded a state of emergency to 41 of the state's 67 counties and mobilized the National Guard.

"There is a significant threat of storm surge, coastal flooding and erosion, heavy rainfall and flash flooding, and damaging winds," an executive order signed by DeSantis on Monday said.

Alongside warnings across Florida, the National Hurricane Center has issued a Tropical Storm Warning for western Cuba, Grand Cayman and the eastern Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico.

If the NHC's forecasts are confirmed, Helene -- with sustained winds of more than 110 miles per hour -- would be the highest-category hurricane to hit the United States in more than a year.

Idalia, a Category 3 storm, hit northwestern Florida in August 2023.

Helene is set to make landfall in the same region as both Idalia and Hurricane Debby, the Category 1 hurricane that hit Florida last month.
The 2024 Atlantic hurricane season, which began on June 1 and will end on November 30, has been less busy than expected.

Researchers say climate change likely plays a role in the rapid intensification of storms, because there is more energy in a warmer ocean for them to feed on.