Hurricane and storm surge watches covered much of the Gulf Coast of Florida on Tuesday morning as a system churning in the Caribbean Sea was expected to strengthen rapidly into a powerful hurricane.

The National Hurricane Center's 8 p.m. update did not change much as Florida Panhandle and Gulf Coast residents brace for a potential Category 3 Hurricane Helene to make landfall Thursday, though AccuWeather says it could get as strong as a Category 4 over the Gulf of Mexico.