Hurricane Imelda strengthens while targeting Bermuda as storm slams coastal Southeast with dangerous waves

MIAMI – Hurricane Imelda formed off the southeastern U.S. coast on Tuesday morning, and forecasters say the deadly storm will likely strengthen and could become a Category 2 hurricane as it approaches Bermuda this week.

And while a landfall in the U.S. is not expected, the effects of Hurricane Imelda are being felt up and down the East Coast from the Southeast through the mid-Atlantic and into the Northeast and New England.

Unfortunately, the impacts of Hurricane Imelda have been deadly.

According to the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office in Florida, a 51-year-old man from "out of state" drowned after he was pulled out into the Atlantic Ocean by a rip current and couldn’t make it back to shore.

Rip currents are a major concern this week due to Hurricane Imelda, as well as Hurricane Humberto spinning in the Atlantic. Both storms are kicking up massive waves, leading to rip currents at beaches along the East Coast.

In Cuba, a 60-year-old man in Santiago died after torrential rain led to a landslide, causing the man’s home to collapse while he slept, according to local media and first responders.

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Hurricane Imelda, Hurricane Humberto force Bermuda to shutter only airport

Bermuda is preparing for impacts from Hurricane Imelda just as former Category 5 Hurricane Humberto sweeps past the island.

And because of the threats, the island’s only airport is ceasing operations until conditions improve.

"We do have some flight cancellations," said Jason Inniss, Director of Operations at L.F. Wade International Airport. "Most of the carriers would have operated extra flights earlier this morning just to make sure those people who need to leave the island can get off the island safely."

Inniss said there was one more flight coming from Europe, and that would be the last flight at the airport.

"All flights will be canceled (Wednesday) and the airport will be closed from 11 p.m. (Tuesday night) until at least noon on Thursday," Inniss said.

As far as Hurricane Humberto, Inniss said the impacts haven’t been too bad.

"We do have some squalls coming through," he said. "We are seeing some thunderstorms in between. Intermittent rainfall has occurred, but then there are periods of absolute calm and quiet."

Inniss said that the safety of staff is "paramount."

"We want to ensure that our employees and the staff at the airport can get home safely," he said. As soon as that British Airways flight leaves this afternoon, hopefully about 7 p.m. tonight, then most of the airport staff will start to head home, and we’ll have a skeleton crew that will remain at the airport in key areas of security, who will ride out the storm until we get the all clear."

At a news conference on Tuesday, officials in Bermuda urged residents to quickly complete preparations ahead of Imelda.

"Bermuda. I cannot overstate the seriousness of this threat," the Hon. Michael Weeks, JP, MP, said at a news conference on Tuesday. "As the director indicated, Imelda is expected to bring sustained hurricane-force winds for four to six hours overnight Wednesday into Thursday. This, and I must stress, is not a passing squall. This is a dangerous storm system that could bring destructive winds, heavy rainfall and significant coastal impacts."

Weeks said preparations for Humberto should have already been completed, and preparations for Hurricane Imelda should be completed by noon on Wednesday.

Weeks stressed that storms can quickly change tracks at the last moment and could be more dangerous that initially predicted.

"That is exactly why we cannot be complacent too often," he said. "Some may look outside and think it doesn’t look too bad and decide not to take precautions. I want to say directly to every resident – do not take that risk. We must treat Imelda as a very serious storm."

As of the latest advisory from the National Hurricane Center (NHC), Hurricane Imelda has maximum sustained winds of 85 mph with some higher gusts, and strengthening is likely to continue.

The NHC's latest forecast has maximum sustained winds forecast to possibly reach 100 mph by Wednesday evening, making it a Category 2 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale.

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The center of Hurricane Imelda is about 690 miles to the west-southwest of Bermuda and is moving off to the northeast at 12 mph.

The NHC said that Hurricane Imelda is expected to move off to the east-northeast at a faster forward speed for the next few days. On that forecast track, the center of Hurricane Imelda should continue to move away from the Bahamas on Tuesday and approach Bermuda Wednesday afternoon.

A Hurricane Warning is now in effect for Bermuda, and the NHC said tropical storm conditions could begin to impact the island by Wednesday afternoon, followed by hurricane conditions likely impacting the island by Wednesday evening.

In terms of rainfall, about 1-2 inches of rain is possible, with locally higher amounts of up to 4 inches, across coastal areas of southeastern North Carolina.

That, the NHC said, could result in isolated flash and urban flooding.

As Imelda passes Bermuda, the NHC said 2-4 inches of rain could fall there between Wednesday and Thursday, which could also lead to flash flooding.

In addition to rain, coastal flooding is possible in areas of onshore winds across the southeastern U.S.

That water could reach 1-2 feet above high tide in coastal areas from the Volusia/Brevard County line in Florida northward to the South Santee River in South Carolina.

Swells generated by both Hurricane Imelda and Hurricane Humberto have been impacting the Bahamas and are spreading across much of the U.S. East Coast.

Those swells are leading to life-threatening surf and deadly rip currents.

It's been a busy few weeks in the Atlantic with Hurricane Gabrielle first, and now Hurricane Humberto and Hurricane Imelda are ongoing simultaneously several hundred miles apart.

The Atlantic hurricane season began on June 1 and runs through Nov. 30.