Tropical Storm Gordon made landfall just west of the Alabama-Mississippi border late Tuesday, bringing with it maximum sustained winds of 70 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center.

Schools were closed and states of emergency were declared as the Gulf Coast braced for the heavy rains, high winds and storm surge of Tropical Storm Gordon.

"Please make your final preparations today in advance of #Gordon making landfall tonight," Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant tweeted.

Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards also declared a state of emergency, saying hundreds of National Guard members would be deployed in coastal areas. Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey issued a similar declaration.

"All coastal Alabama residents need to prepare now ahead of tonight’s potential landfall," she tweeted. "Our state will be ready for whatever Gordon may bring."

The governors of Florida and Texas said they were monitoring developments.

The National Hurricane Center called the storm "life-threatening" and warned that tornadoes were possible in Mississippi, Alabama and the Florida Panhandle. The hurricane warning stretched from the Pearl River that separates Mississippi and Louisiana to the Alabama-Florida border.

The Mississippi Emergency Management Agency set up locations for residents to pick up sandbags. In Biloxi, Mississippi, Mary Smith stocked up on supplies.

"Cold drinks, bread and, you know, canned foods," Smith said, listing her purchases.

More:Airlines waive change fees before Tropical Storm Gordon

Also:Tropical Storm Gordon threatens Gulf Coast; hurricane warning in place

Gordon is expected to dump 4 to 8 inches of rain over the western Florida Panhandle, southwest Alabama, southern and central Mississippi, eastern Louisiana and southern Arkansas, the National Weather Service said. Isolated maximum amounts of 12 inches could pound the area through late Thursday, and flash flooding is expected for much of the region.

Gordon took form as a tropical storm near the Florida Keys early Monday, blasting South Florida with high winds and hours of heavy rains. After hitting the Gulf Coast, it is forecast to move inland over the lower Mississippi Valley on Wednesday.

"Fast movement and wind shear should limit the intensity of Gordon, but the storm will be monitored closely as the water is quite warm," AccuWeather meteorologist Alex Sosnowski said.

The hurricane center issued a storm surge warning, meaning possible "danger of life-threatening inundation" for the area stretching from Shell Beach, Louisiana, to Dauphin Island, Alabama.

Tornadoes are also possible in the area as the storm moves ashore.

"The track now appears headed more toward southern Mississippi and Alabama, but it might still clip extreme southeastern Louisiana," said Don Wheeler, a USA TODAY NETWORK correspondent meteorologist.

Regardless of whether the state takes a direct hit, Wheeler said, southeastern Louisiana can expect storm surge and some coastal flooding.

"The water's going to pile up as the storm approaches landfall, so even though this isn't a catastrophic system, it remains dangerous with the ability to inflict damage," he said.

More than 27,000 customers are without power Tuesday night as Gordon began pushing ashore. Those outages are mostly in coastal Alabama and include the western tip of the Florida Panhandle around Pensacola, with a few hundred in southeastern Mississippi.

Far out in the Atlantic Ocean, about 2,400 miles from Miami, Tropical Storm Florence strengthened into a hurricane Tuesday morning, as its winds soared to 85 mph. It's the third hurricane of the 2018 season.

More:Hurricane Florence next storm in the pipeline, and more are expected to follow

Florence poses no threat to land for at least the next several days. Whether it heads for the U.S. East Coast or Bermuda – or heads harmlessly out to sea – remains to be seen, according to weather.us meteorologist Ryan Maue.

Forecasters warned last week that activity in the Atlantic basin was expected to ramp up in September. That prediction follows an unusually quiet August for the Atlantic, which saw no hurricanes form there for the first time since 2013.

The Atlantic hurricane season runs June 1 to Nov. 30; September is generally the peak month. The 2017 hurricane season featured several monster storms such as Harvey, Irma and Maria among the 10 that formed in the Atlantic.

Contributing: Jorge L. Ortiz, USA TODAY; Greg Hilburn, Monroe (Louisiana) News Star ;WWLTV.com; Associated Press