Tropical Storm Sara is here and closing in on Central America where it will unleash disastrous flooding rain in the region. It’s the first and potentially most serious threat posed by a storm that should enter the Gulf of Mexico next week.

A late-season tropical system swirling over the Caribbean Sea has become better organized and strengthened into Tropical Storm Sara on Thursday, and forecasters fear that the storm could unleash life-threatening and potentially catastrophic impacts in Central America,