West Florida was battered by tropical storm-pressure winds and heavy rain Wednesday. And officials in areas such as St. Petersburg, Sarasota and Madeira Beach have already responded to reports of torn roofs and flooded streets.
Eta briefly strengthened the hurricane Wednesday morning, but then weakened toward a tropical storm with 60 mph winds, according to the National Hurricane Center. Hurricane clocks were removed for parts of Florida’s west coast, but tropical storm warnings remain for the Suvani River, Florida and Flagler / Volusia County Florida lines from Anglewood.
The hurricane, which was moving at about 10 miles per hour, was 65-miles northwest of St. Petersburg, Florida, the NHC said.
In addition to tropical hurricane-force winds and hurricane-force vehicles, most of West and Central Florida will receive Other 1 to 3 Inches of rain fell during Thursday – an increase of more than 6 inches in some areas already received in the last 24 hours, according to CNN meteorologist Michael Guy.
Wind gusts will cause 2 to 5 foot storms in many parts of Florida’s west coast, including the highly sensitive Tampa Bay area. The water level is already 2 to 3 feet above normal and the water will continue to flow for the next few hours.
“Small floods are already being reported before the landfall, just north of where Cedar Key is expected to land,” Guy said.
But this is the expectation of Atta that we have heard from Ata. The NHC said tropical storms are forecast to make landfall in the western Atlantic Ocean by the end of the week, the NHC said.
The 2020 Atlantic hurricane season has been particularly active. He has set a record for most named hurricanes in a single season with 29 so far.
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