It seems to be the season of Hurricanes, as Hurricane Michael gained strength and intensified, moving towards Florida's northeast Gulf Coast, said reports. According to advisories issued, Hurricane 'Michael' is likely to hit the Florida coast on Wednesday and residents are bracing themselves for storm in their own way.

According to the National Hurricane Center ET advisory issued on Tuesday, the hurricane was located about 425 miles south of Apalachicola. This is reportedly 455 miles south of Panama City, Florida.

Wind speeds were rising according to a hurricane hunter plane, and forecasters cautioned that the storm could morph into a major hurricane with winds topping 111 mph by Tuesday night.

Tropical storm Michael, arising from the atlantic over the past few days, strengthened to a Category 1 hurricane on Monday and barreled toward the US Gulf Coast packing maximum sustained winds of 75 miles per hour, meteorologists said.

The weather system was located between Mexico's Yucatan peninsula and the west coast of Cuba by 1500 GMT and was heading slowly towards the northern Gulf Coast of Florida, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) in Miami said.

It is expected to be a major Category 3 hurricane by the time it hits Florida on Wednesday, before moving northeast across the southeastern United States through Thursday.

"#Michael could produce three life-threatening hazards along portions of the northeastern Gulf Coast: storm surge, heavy rainfall, and hurricane-force winds, with storm surge and hurricane watches in effect," the NHC said on Twitter.

"Residents in these areas should follow advice given by local officials."

Heavy rainfall from Michael could produce "life-threatening flash flooding," the NHC said, from the Florida Panhandle and Big Bend region into portions of the Carolinas through Thursday. Hurricane Florence: What We Know of this Category 4 Storm Heading for the U.S. East Coast.

In the month of September, Hurricane Florence had lashed the eastern coast of the United States. Reportedly, 13 people lost their lives due to the storm and rains. A large number of fishes were reportedly found dead at the coasts as a result of the sea storm. President Donald Trump had paid a visit to the affected areas. (With Agency Inputs)

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 09, 2018 06:07 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).