ATLANTA — The Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency discussed how the state is preparing for Tropical Storm Helene.

GEMA Director Chris Stallings announced Tuesday that Gov. Brian Kemp issued a state of emergency.

WSB Meteorologist Christina Edwards says Tropical Storm Helene formed in the western Caribbean on Tuesday morning.

Helene officially strengthened into a named tropical storm with winds as high as 45 miles per hour.

Edwards says the storm is currently large and disorganized, but is expected to strengthen into a Category 1 hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico by Wednesday afternoon. It could become a major hurricane before it makes landfall along Florida’s Big Bend on Thursday.

Edwards says that storm will then move across Georgia late Thursday night into Friday morning.