Photo: Forecasters issue hurricane warning for portions of northwestern Florida

Forecasters have issued a hurricane warning for portions of northwestern Florida.
The National Hurricane Center on Wednesday night set the warning from the Suwanee River west to Mexico Beach as Tropical Storm Hermine was continuing to strengthen over the Gulf of Mexico.
Hermine was 315 miles west-southwest of Tampa with winds of 60 mph. It was expected to continue to strengthen through Thursday and be near the coast by the night.

The center also expanded a tropical storm watch from Georgia into South Carolina.
The National Hurricane Center says Tropical Storm Hermine is expected to strengthen to a hurricane before landfall in Florida. The Miami-based center tweeted the most recent development Wednesday night.

Hermine is now forecast to strengthen to a hurricane Thursday before making landfall. 

Gusting winds were the first signs of Hermine’s arrival on Florida’s west coast Wednesday, CBS News’ according to our reporter"
In the coastal town of Gulfport, the storm’s first rain bands submerged neighborhood streets in almost a foot of water.
Debby Deade is already fighting ankle deep water in her mother’s home.
 “The water has been really bad. We actually have a pump inside ready to go to flow out the water out here,” she said.

Tropical Storm Hermine barrels toward the Florida coast in this infrared satellite image captured at 1:15 p.m. ET on Aug. 31, 2016.

“Hopefully this will be the worst weather we get this year, but we are going to have storm surge,” Gov. Rick Scott told reporters on Tuesday. “We are going to have rain. We are going to have flooding, and we have the potential of tornadoes, and we’re going to have rip currents.”
Scott added nine more counties to a state of emergency declaration as Hermine approaches the Gulf Coast.