By Letitia Stein
TAMPA, Fla. (Reuters) - A tropical storm developing in the Gulf of Mexico could produce near hurricane-force winds by the time it makes landfall in Florida, the National Hurricane Center said on Wednesday.
Tropical Storm Hermine, with winds gusting at 45 miles per hour (75 km), was forecast to strengthen before reaching Florida's northern Gulf Coast Thursday afternoon, and then sweep across northern parts of the state with pounding rains, then northeast along the Atlantic Coast.
As the projected path jogged west, forecasters extended a hurricane watch and tropical storm warning to Destin, in Florida's Panhandle, and on to the Anclote River north of Tampa.
Storm preparations were also under way in Hawaii, which was opening shelters and closing offices, schools and roads on Wednesday to prepare for Hurricane Madeline, which is expected to hit the southern part of the state’s Big Island hardest.
Florida's governor declared an emergency on Wednesday ahead of the brewing storm, which forecasters warned could bring life-threatening flooding.
Heavy rains were already pounding parts of the state on Wednesday. As much as 20 inches (50 cm) could fall over northwest Florida, the National Hurricane Center in Miami said, warning of storm surges and "life-threatening inundation." Many school districts along the Gulf Coast canceled after-school activities and ordered students to stay home on Thursday.
On its current path, the system would dump as much as 10 inches of rain (25 cm) on coastal areas of Georgia, which was under a tropical storm watch, and the Carolinas.
Lori Hebert, 40, woke up on Wednesday to flood waters seeping into her house in the Tampa Bay region. Catfish came onto her driveway as the street flooded in Gulfport, a small waterfront city.
"We haven't gotten the main storm yet," she said, loading a dozen orange sandbags into her van.
U.S. oil and gas producers in east of the Gulf of Mexico removed workers from 10 offshore platforms, moved drilling rigs and shut some output because of the storm.
On Hawaii's Big Island, residents were warned that Madeline, although weakening with sustained winds of about 75 mph (120 kph) at 11 a.m. local time, could dump as much as 15 inches (40 cm) of rain. The storm could also churn up damaging surf.
Madeline was expected to keep losing strength, but Hurricane Lester, currently a major Category 4 storm, could affect the state over the weekend.
Governor David Ige signed an emergency proclamation that runs through Sept. 9, freeing up state resources.
Island residents were bracing for a week of possible power outages and food rationing because of delays to cargo ships bringing essential supplies, said Galen Yoshimoto, Hawaii Emergency Management Agency spokesman.
“On an island, we can't roll things from one island to another,” he said.
A tropical storm watch was issued for parts of the Azores as Hurricane Gaston churned to the northeast in the Atlantic, although it is expected to weaken into a tropical storm.
(Additional reporting by Brendan O'Brien in Milwaukee, Laila Kearney in New York, Jon Herskovitz in Austin, Texas and the Houston bureau; Editing by Steve Orlofsky and James Dalgleish)