Millions of people living on the Gulf Coast from Louisiana to Florida are being urged to prepare as Invest 97L continues to become better organized and will likely become Tropical Storm or Hurricane Helene as the system enters the Gulf of Mexico in the coming days.

The National Hurricane Center gives Invest 97L an 80 percent chance of development in the next 7 days; it could impact Florida.

Florida Panhandle residents should be getting their hurricane preparations in order as meteorologists expect a strong Hurricane Helene.

This disturbance is being closely monitored for further development with the potential of becoming a named system within the next 48 hours.