Millions of people living on the Gulf Coast from Louisiana to Florida are being urged to prepare as Invest 97L continues to become better organized and will likely become Tropical Storm or Hurricane Helene as the system enters the Gulf of Mexico in the coming days.

Invest 97L hasn't become a named storm - yet - but forecasters are warning Gulf Coast residents to prepare for a hurricane later this week.

The area, designated on Sunday as Invest 97L, is continuing to organize in the Caribbean, according to the National Hurricane Center. A tropical depression or tropical storm is expected to form in the next couple of days as the system moves across the northwestern Caribbean into the Gulf of Mexico.