SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Hurricane watches were issued for parts of Cuba and Mexico on Monday as a cluster of storms located south of the Cayman Islands could strengthen into a major hurricane in upcoming days while moving north toward the U.S., weather forecasters said.
The disturbance could become Hurricane Helene on Wednesday as it approaches the Gulf Coast, according to the National Hurricane Center.
“It could certainly become a major hurricane, which is Category 3,” Brad Reinhart, a senior hurricane specialist at the center, said in a phone interview. “People in the Florida Panhandle and the west coast of Florida certainly need to pay close attention.”
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency in 41 counties on Monday as a result of the expected storm.
Reinhart said that it's too early to forecast where it might make landfall. He warned “there's always some potential” for it to strengthen into a Category 4 storm, but added that it might not be the most likely outcome.
He said the disturbance could become a tropical storm by Tuesday, and that tropical storm conditions could affect parts of Florida on Wednesday as it approaches. It could turn into a major hurricane by the time it reaches the northeast Gulf Coast on Thursday.
“It’s a pretty aggressive forecast for intensification over the next few days,” he said. “People need to remain on high alert.”
Very warm sea temperatures are forecast to fuel formation of a tropical storm, which is forecast to quickly strengthen into a hurricane thanks to favorable conditions that include a moist atmosphere, which supports thunderstorm developments, and light upper-level winds at more than 10,000 feet (around 3,000 meters), Reinhart said.
The cluster of storms was located about 110 miles (175 kilometers) south-southwest of Grand Cayman on Monday. It had maximum sustained winds of 30 mph (45 kph) and was moving north at 6 mph (9 kph).
A hurricane watch was in effect for the Cuban province of Pinar del Rio and eastern Mexico from Cabo Catoche to Tulum. A tropical storm warning was in effect for eastern Mexico from Rio Lagartos to Tulum and for the Cuban provinces of Artemisa, Pinar del Rio and the Isle of Youth.
Up to eight inches of rain is forecast for western Cuba and the Cayman Islands with isolated total of some 12 inches (30 centimeters). Up to 4 inches (10 centimeters) of rain is expected for the eastern Yucatán Peninsula, with isolated total of more than 6 inches (15 centimeters) inches.
Heavy rainfall also is forecast for the Southeast U.S. starting on Wednesday, threatening flash and river flooding, according to the National Hurricane Center.
Meanwhile, up to 4 feet (1.2 meters) of storm surge is forecast for parts of Cuba and Mexico.
On Monday, authorities in the Cayman Islands closed schools as forecasters warned of heavy flooding associated with the disturbance, which is due to cut a path between Cuba and Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula in upcoming days.
Helene would be the eighth named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season which runs from June 1 to Nov. 30.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has predicted an above-average Atlantic hurricane season this year because of record-warm ocean temperatures. It forecast 17 to 25 named storms, with four to seven major hurricanes of Category 3 or higher.
This image provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shows a cluster of storms located south of the Cayman Islands which are expected to strengthen in upcoming days, Monday, Sept. 23, 2024. (NOAA via AP)
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — Officials in Birmingham, Alabama, pleaded Monday with members of the public for information leading to arrests in a weekend mass shooting that killed four people and injured more than a dozen others, announcing rewards totaling $100,000.
"I want to make myself very clear on what the priority is: It is to hunt down, capture, arrest and convict the people who are responsible for this mass shooting.” Mayor Randall Woodfin said at a news conference Monday with other officials.
Authorities have still made no arrests after Saturday’s shooting killed four people and left 17 others injured. Police described it as a targeted “hit” on someone by multiple shooters who opened fire on a crowd waiting in line outside a nightspot in Birmingham’s bustling Five Points South district.
Police believe that the shooters targeted at least one of the victims and that others were killed or injured in the barrage of gunfire, Chief Scott Thurmond said. Five of the injured victims remain in the hospital, he said. The FBI is offering a $50,000 reward, and Crime Stoppers is offering $50,000, officials said. Tipsters can remain anonymous.
The shooting — Birmingham's third quadruple homicide of the year — has put a spotlight on a city once best known for its role in the Civil Rights Movement but more recently plagued by gun violence.
Three of the nation's 31 mass killings this year occurred in Birmingham, according to a database maintained by The Associated Press and USA Today in partnership with Northeastern University. Birmingham, a city of about 200,000, has seen 114 homicides this year. Chicago, with more than 10 times the population, has seen a little over 400 homicides this year.
Saturday's shooting rocked an area of restaurants and bars that is often busy on weekend nights. It occurred on the sidewalk and street outside Hush Lounge as a long line of people waited to enter. Blood stains remained on the sidewalk until firefighters washed them away later Sunday.
Police identified the three victims found on the sidewalk as Anitra Holloman, 21, of the Birmingham suburb of Bessemer, Tahj Booker, 27, of Birmingham, and Carlos McCain, 27, of Birmingham. The fourth victim was identified Monday as Roderick Lynn Patterson Jr., 26.
Police said about 100 shell casings were recovered. In a statement late Sunday, police said the shooters are believed to have used “machine gun conversion devices” that make semiautomatic weapons fire more rapidly.
“We’re looking at whether the switch was used in this particular case, or was this an assault rifle that was fully automatic or some other type of weapon,” Thurmond said Monday.
The Birmingham mayor had urged state and federal officials to give cities more tools to address gun violence. He put both hands behind his back Monday to illustrate what it is like for cities to combat crime. Alabama last year abolished the requirement to get a permit to carry a concealed handgun in public.
“This mass shooting has a heavy toll of the community as a whole, but nothing more harmful than the emotional and physical pain of these actual victims,” Woodfin said.
This story has been corrected to show that there have been 31 mass killings in the nation this year, not 23 mass shootings.
CORRECTS DATE hat appears to be a bullet hole is visible in the window of Hush, a hookah and cigar lounge, in Birmingham, Ala. on Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024, the day after a mass shooting took place. (AP Photo/Kim Chandler)
Blood stains were visible on the sidewalk outside of a nightclub in Birmingham, Ala. on Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024, after a mass shooting took place. (AP Photo/Kim Chandler)
A firefighter cleans blood stains off the sidewalk outside a nightclub in Birmingham, Ala. on Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024, after a mass shooting took place. (AP Photo/Kim Chandler)
This image provided by WBMA shows police tape near the scene of a shooting in Birmingham, Ala., Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024. (Bill Castle/WBMA via AP)
This image provided by WBMA shows police working on the scene of a shooting in Birmingham, Ala., Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024. (Bill Castle/WBMA via AP)
Drops of blood remain at the scene of a fatal Saturday night shooting in the Five Points neighborhood of Birmingham, Ala., Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Vasha Hunt)
This image provided by WBMA shows police and emergency vehicles in the entertainment district after a shooting in Birmingham, Ala., Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024. (Bill Castle/WBMA via AP)
The scene of a fatal Saturday night shooting outside Hush, a hookah lounge, in the Five Points neighborhood of Birmingham, Ala., Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Vasha Hunt)
Search underway for suspects in Alabama mass shooting that killed 4 and injured 17
Search underway for suspects in Alabama mass shooting that killed 4 and injured 17
This image provided by WBMA shows bystanders near the scene of a shooting in Birmingham, Ala., Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024. (Bill Castle/WBMA via AP)
