Florida will likely “take the brunt” of an upcoming storm next week, regardless of whether that system remains a tropical rainstorm or develops into a hurricane.

The Atlantic hurricane season has picked up speed over the past month, with Hurricane Helene making landfall in the Big Bend region of Florida on September 26 as a Category 4 hurricane.

Helene’s wrath caused devastation in several states, including catastrophic flooding in North Carolina. According to the Associated Press, the death toll from the severe storm was 200 at the time of publication, although there are concerns that the death toll is much higher than officially reported.

Meteorologists recently turned their attention to a disturbance in the Gulf of Mexico, which the National Hurricane Center (NHC) forecast has a 40 percent chance of developing into a tropical storm within seven days.

In the Pacific, a storm called Tropical Depression Eleven-E recently hit Mexico, and its remnants are expected to merge with the disturbance in the Gulf after passing through Mexico.

Florida will likely experience impacts from the combined storm sometime next week, AccuWeather reported.

“While the exact track and intensity of the phenomenon unfolding in the wave have yet to be determined, Florida will bear the brunt this time,” AccuWeather chief meteorologist Bernie Rayno said in the AccuWeather report. “At this point, the intensity will range from an extended tropical rainstorm to perhaps an attack of a more compact, full-fledged hurricane.”

Newsweek contacted AccuWeather by email for comment.

Regardless of whether a hurricane develops, Florida expects heavy rainfall related to the disturbance this weekend and next week. The rain could hinder Hurricane Helene relief efforts, especially in the Tampa Bay area.

AccuWeather included a map of the impacts for Florida with the report. According to the map, the southwestern part of Florida will experience the greatest threat from the coming storm, especially in the Cape Coral area.

That region could see 8 to 12 inches of rain. The risk for widespread amounts of 2 to 8 inches of rain remains for much of the rest of the Florida peninsula. AccuWeather meteorologists warned that flooding from the heavy rain could inundate roads in Cape Coral, Fort Myers, Naples, Miami, Tampa, Orlando and Fort Lauderdale.

Meanwhile, Hurricane Kirk and Tropical Storm Leslie have also formed in the Atlantic Ocean southeast of the US. The pair, which is expected to continue to strengthen, is expected to remain at sea, although meteorologists are increasingly concerned that Kirk, currently a Category 4 hurricane with winds of 230 km/h, could hit Europe.

Kirk and Leslie will both have indirect impacts on the US by creating swells and currents along the East Coast. Warnings are likely to be in effect this weekend for areas of the east coast affected by the dangerous waters.