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West Florida was battered by tropical storm-force winds and heavy rain for much of Wednesday. And officials in areas like St. Petersburg, Sarasota and Madeira Beach have already responded to reports of roofs ripped off and streets flooded.
Eta briefly strengthened to a hurricane Wednesday morning, but then weakened to a tropical storm with 60 mph winds, according to the National Hurricane Center. The hurricane watch was lifted for parts of the west coast of Florida, but tropical storm warnings remain in effect for Englewood to the Suwannee River, Florida, and for the Florida line of Flagler County / Volusia.
Moving at about 10 mph, the storm is 65 miles northwest of St. Petersburg, Florida, the NHC said.
In addition to tropical storm-force winds and even hurricane-force gusts, much of western and central Florida will receive another 1 to 3 inches of rain through Thursday, adding to the more than 6 inches some areas have already received in the past 24 hours, according to CNN meteorologist Michael Guy.
The onshore push from the winds will result in 2 to 5 feet of storm surge along much of the west coast of Florida, including the highly vulnerable area of Tampa Bay. The water levels are already 2 to 3 feet above normal and the water will continue to pool for the next several hours.
“Cedar Key, north of where it is expected to make landfall, is already reporting minor flooding before making landfall,” Guy said.
But this is expected to be the last we hear from Eta. The tropical storm is forecast to dissipate over the western Atlantic Ocean over the weekend, the NHC said.
The 2020 Atlantic hurricane season has been especially active. He has set the record for the most named storms in a single season with 29 so far.
