The Pike County EMA is watching a tropical development in the Gulf of Mexico that could threaten much of the Gulf Coast with heavy rains and severe storms before moving into the Pike County area.

“(Hurricane Center officials) are still looking at it,” said local EMA Director Jeanna Barnes. “They don’t know which way it’s going to go yet. They should have an update (Monday night).”

The development, which Barnes said is being referred to as an “invest,” could cause heavy rainfall into the end of the week, but Barnes said the exact area the storm will impact is still unknown.

“This is not like a traditional kind of hurricane that’s tight to the core,” Barnes said. “There’s a lot of convection on the eastern side already being pulled into the Gulf, so we could have some rains and storms tomorrow. Even if the eye goes into Louisiana, there’s so much convection on that side that we would get a lot of rain.”

Officials are still unsure whether the invest will develop into a tropical depression or storm.

With the storm developing quickly in the Gulf, Barnes advised that residents should remain alert for updates on the storm’s progress Tuesday as the rain could start this afternoon or even this morning depending on the path the development takes.

Barnes said the potential for severe weather in the area is still an uncertainty at this time.

To sign up for the EMA’s new weather alert system, residents can got to www.smart911.com and sign up or click the “sign up” button on either the Pike County EMA or Pike County 911 Facebook pages.

Once signed up, residents can click “opt in” and select to be included in the EMA’s weather alerts system as well as a variety of other alert options such as updates from the cities of Troy, Brundidge and Goshen and traffic and law enforcement alerts.

Updates will also be posted to The Messenger Facebook page as storms develop.