Rafael is forecast to strengthen Tuesday and will likely become a hurricane over the next 24 hours as it batters the western Caribbean on the first leg of an uncertain journey toward the US Gulf Coast.

The National Hurricane Center forecast Tropical Storm Rafael to grow into the season’s 11th hurricane on Tuesday as it moved toward Cuba with winds and

Rafael is expected to become a hurricane as it passes near the Cayman Islands with further strengthening before it makes landfall in Cuba,” the National Hurricane Center in Miami said, per PBS.