Tropical Storm Ida strengthened further on Friday and the U.S. Gulf Coast braced for a hurricane this weekend as the storm churned toward the region, while the National Hurricane Center (NHC) issued hurricane and tropical storm watches for much of the area.

       Ida was expected to be a hurricane by the time it nears western Cuba later on Friday. Cuba issued hurricane warnings for parts of the island and the Isle of Youth.

       Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards declared a state of emergency on Thursday and said on Friday he had sent a request to President Joe Biden for a “pre-landfall” federal declaration of emergency.

       “Unfortunately, Louisiana is forecast to get a direct, strong hit from Tropical Storm #Ida, which is compounded by our current fourth surge of COVID-19. This is an incredibly challenging time for our state,” Edwards wrote on Twitter.

       The storm was crawling northwest at 15 mph, the NHC said, but was expected to rapidly gain strength and speed over the warm Gulf waters, endangering the coast lines of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, forecasters said.

       Officials in U.S. coastal areas preparing for the storm urged residents to move boats out of harbours and encouraged early evacuations.

       Officials in Louisiana’s Lafourche Parish said they would enact a voluntary evacuation, especially for people in low-lying areas, mobile homes and RVs. Hurricane force winds of about 110 mph with gusts of 130 mph could hit the state, forecasters said.

       “Now is the time for people to finalize their emergency game plan,” Edwards said in a statement on Thursday. “By Saturday evening, everyone should be in the location where they intend to ride out the storm.”

       Cuba’s meteorology institute said that Ida would cause storm surges as far east as Havana. The governor of the Isle of Youth Adian Morera said an evacuation centre was ready to receive families in the main town of Nueva Gerona, and sea vessels had already been secured along the coast.

       In Jamaica, heavy rains continued to cause flooding, and landslides after the passage of the storm, making many roads impassable and forcing some residents to abandon their homes.

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       Weather conditions were expected to return to near normal only by Saturday, according to Prime Minister Andrew Holness.

       Early Friday the storm was about 75 miles (125 kilometres) southeast of the Isle of Youth, packing maximum sustained winds of 65 miles per hour (100 km per hour), the NHC added.

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