Evacuation orders were issued for some 37,000 Cuban residents Tuesday as the storm strengthens in the Pacific.

Tropical Storm Rafael was rapidly picking up steam on Tuesday afternoon as it chugged toward the Cayman Islands in the Caribbean, and will likely become a hurricane in the next few hours, according to the U.

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