Thousands of Florida residents have been forced to evacuate as the state prepares for rapidly strengthening Tropical Storm Helene, which could bring powerful winds, flooding and life-threatening storm surge to areas already hard-hit by recent hurricanes.

Hurricane and storm-surge watches were in effect Tuesday for much of Florida’s Gulf Coast as a weather system is expected to rapidly grow into “a potentially very dangerous storm” and hit the state as a hurricane this week.

Helene, which formed Tuesday in the Caribbean, is expected to move over deep, warm waters, fueling its intensification.