US Faces Potential Double Whammy Hurricane After Helene Battering

Fresh storms are being whipped up over the churning waves of the Atlantic—which could heap more misery on millions of Americans still reeling from Hurricane Helene.

Meteorologists have warned that they are keeping a close eye on two weather systems “in the eastern tropical Atlantic,” one of which “has a high (80 percent) chance” of developing into a tropical cyclone within a week, according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC). Another weather disturbance in the west Caribbean has a “medium (50 percent)” chance of becoming a tropical depression (a tropical cyclone with maximum winds of 38 mph) and the U.S. Gulf Coast “should monitor its progress,” the NHC warned.

The most concerning weather system in the Atlantic Ocean is currently called “Tropical Depression Twelve,” although if it becomes a hurricane it would be renamed “Kirk.” It remains unclear when, where, or even whether it will actually make landfall. (Hurricanes are named in alphabetical order, so following Hurricane Helene, storms called “Isaac” and “Joyce” are also currently being monitored out at sea.)

The grim news about more storms comes after the monster hurricane Helene slammed into the U.S. last week. More than 100 people were killed and more than a million Americans currently remain without power, as buildings were destroyed, power lines felled, and cars were swept away by tidal storm surges and floods.

The devastation began in Florida, but Helene traveled north, also hitting Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and Tennessee, as well as impacting parts of Virginia, West Virginia, Illinois, Ohio and Kentucky.

Nervous Florida residents are now keeping an anxious eye on weather developments that could provide a follow-up punch in the near future. The Miami Herald warned of one particular system currently headed for the Gulf of Mexico from the western Caribbean Sea.

The NHC posted about the development on Sunday morning on social media site X (formerly Twitter), saying: “We continue to monitor a system in the W Caribbean, which has a medium (50%) chance of becoming a tropical depression around the middle part of the week. Interests in the NW Caribbean & U.S. Gulf Coast should monitor its progress.”

A follow-up post on X revealed that, further out at sea, there were two other potential red flags.

“Elsewhere, there are 2 systems we are monitoring for development in the eastern tropical Atlantic,” the NHC said. “The system further west has a high (80%) chance & the system further east has a low (20%) chance of TC development.”

A tropical cyclone (TC) is an intense circular storm that can bring ferocious wind levels and may become a full-blown hurricane, which occurs when sustained winds surpass 74 mph.

The agency releases advisories about developments as they unfold, but no warnings are currently in place.

Newsweek has reached out by email to the NHC seeking further information and comment about the tropical depression that may turn into Hurricane Kirk.

Meanwhile, the clean-up operation remains underway and friends and families are left to mourn their dead in the wake of Hurricane Helene, which was a powerful Category 4 storm.

There are five categories used to describe any given hurricane’s strength, according to the SAFFIR-SIMPSON Hurricane Scale. The spectrum runs from Category 1 (winds of 74 mph to 95 mph) up to Category 5 (winds greater than 155 mph). Category 4 hurricanes have winds of between 131 and 155 mph.