Helene is forecast to intensify rapidly over the Gulf of Mexico before making landfall in Florida on Thursday. Residents are urged to make preparations — and in many counties, evacuate — before then.

Two people are dead after former hurricane John barreled into Mexico’s southern Pacific coast, blowing tin roofs off houses, triggering mudslides and toppling scores of trees

Hurricane John remained a major storm early Tuesday, despite rapid weakening after making landfall as a Category 3 system along Mexico's Pacific coast hours earlier.

Hurricane John struck Mexico’s southern Pacific coast with life-threatening flood potential after growing into a major hurricane in a matter of hours. It came ashore near the town of Punta Maldonado late Monday night as a Category 3 storm with maximum sustained winds of 120 mph (190 kph).

Most forecast models suggest a hurricane landfall in Florida or the northern Gulf Coast on Thursday, forecasters say.

Former Hurricane John dissipated over Mexico on Tuesday after barreling into the country’s southern Pacific coast overnight, leaving two dead and a trail of destruction in its path.

Tropical Storm Helene formed in the northwestern Caribbean Sea on Tuesday, but National Hurricane Center forecasters expected the storm to quickly turn into a hurricane by Wednesday as it enters the unusually warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico.