Tropical Storm Humberto is set to become a hurricane in coming days, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said Saturday morning, as it bore down on the Bahamas.
Humberto's presence forced officials to suspend aid efforts and close airports Saturday in the Bahamas as it grapples to recover from the devastation caused by Hurricane Dorian. Dorian was a Category 5 storm, one of the strongest Atlantic hurricanes ever to hit land, that wrecked the archipelago's northwest region two weeks ago.
A tropical storm warning is in effect for the northwest Bahamas, excluding Andros Island, meaning that tropical storm conditions are expected in the warning area for much of Saturday, with winds expected to subside later in the day.
The agency said the storm was located about 200 kilometers east of Freeport, Grand Bahama Island and its movement Saturday morning had been generally stationary. The storm's winds increased to 85 kilometers per hour with higher gusts.
Humberto is forecast to move away from the Bahamas later Saturday and well off the east coast of the U.S. state of Florida later this weekend into early next week.
It is expected to strengthen into a hurricane by Sunday night, when it is projected to be well east of Florida's east coast in the Atlantic Ocean.