By Dave Sherwood
HAVANA (Reuters) - Tropical Storm Helene is expected to unleash mudslides and flooding in Cuba before reaching major hurricane strength on Thursday as it hits Florida with life-threatening ocean surge, the U.S. National Weather Service said.
Residents of Florida's panhandle and west coast were told to expect damaging wind and storm surge, the weather service said on Tuesday.
Governor Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency in most Florida counties. People in some areas of Florida got mandatory evacuation orders on Tuesday because of expectations of coastal flooding.
Climate scientists say Florida's annual hurricanes have grown more frequent and severe due to global warming.
The storm is expected to move north later in the week over parts of Georgia, Tennessee and Kentucky, bringing isolated flash and urban flooding, the weather service said.
On Monday, U.S. oil producers were scrambling to evacuate staff from production platforms in the Gulf of Mexico as the storm approached.