MIAMI, United States (AFP) — Tropical Storm Mindy formed Wednesday in the Gulf of Mexico, threatening the northwest coast of Florida, the US National Hurricane Center said.
The storm was located 90 miles (150 kilometers) west-southwest of the city of Apalachicola Wednesday evening and was expected to make landfall in the southern US state later Wednesday night, the Miami-based organization said.
Mindy was moving northeast at about 21 miles per hour, with maximum sustained winds of 40 miles per hour, the NHC said, and was expected to maintain that course in the coming days.
The center of the storm will cross the Florida panhandle, the part of the state bordering Alabama and Georgia, on Wednesday night.
The NHC issued a tropical storm warning for that region’s coastline, between the city of Mexico Beach and the Steinhatchee River.
Heavy rain is forecast for the panhandle, as well as southern Georgia and South Carolina, and is expected to last through Thursday morning, according to the NHC.
© Agence France-Presse
