First Hurricane to Hit Florida in 11 Years
September 1, 2016
"Hermine" has strengthened to a hurricane and will deliver heavy rain, gusty winds, flooding and the risk of tornadoes into Friday... may ruin East Coast Labor Day weekend plans.
Via AccuWeather.com:
The center of Hermine has made the anticipated northeastward turn and is located about 135 miles south of Apalachicola, Florida, and 180 miles southwest of Cedar Key, Florida.
"We expect Hermine make landfall north of Tampa, in the Big Bend of Florida during late Thursday night into early Friday morning," according to AccuWeather Hurricane Expert Dan Kottlowski.
The last hurricane to make landfall in Florida was Wilma in 2005.
In advance of the storm, Florida Gov. Rick Scott declared a State of Emergency to help 51 counties prepare. A mandatory evacuation notice has been issued for Franklin County, located along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico on the Florida Panhandle.
Several Florida schools have announced closings on Thursday or Friday due to the storm. Florida State University's main campus in Tallahassee, Florida, will be closed from noon Thursday into Friday, officials announced Thursday morning.
Some airlines are waving flight change fees in the path of the storm.
The storm will unload a general 4-8 inches of rain with locally 12-18 inches possible. This rainfall is enough to cause urban and low-lying area flooding.
Near and just south of the center of Hermine, onshore winds will push Gulf of Mexico water landward and are likely to cause coastal flooding. Major cities that can be affected by coastal flooding include Tampa and St. Petersburg, Florida, even if the storm makes landfall 100 miles or more to the north.
- Blue Monster Prep
