(Reuters) – Tropical Storm Ida could hit the U.S. Gulf Coast near New Orleans this weekend as a powerful hurricane, as it strengthened overnight, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) reported early today, issuing hurricane and tropical storm watches for much of the area.
Ahead of the storm, Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards declared a state of emergency late Thursday.
Hurricane force winds of about 110 mph with gusts of 130 mph could hit the state, forecasters said.
“Now is the time for people to finalize their emergency game plan,” Edwards said in a statement. “This type of threat contains additional problems because the window to prepare is so short. By Saturday evening, everyone should be in the location where they intend to ride out the storm.”
It is forecast to pass near or over western Cuba later on as it crawls northward at 15 mph, the NHC said.
But it is expected to rapidly gain strength and speed over the warm Gulf waters, endangering the coast lines of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, forecasters said.
Early today the storm was about 75 miles (125 kilometers) north-northwest of Grand Cayman, packing maximum sustained winds of 60 miles per hour (95 km per hour), the NHC added.
