Tropical Storm Emily Triggers State of Emergency for 31 Counties in Florida Including Broward, Palm, Miami-Dade
July 31, 2017
It’s a Monday morning surprise for the Gulf Coast as Tropical Storm Emily suddenly formed off the Tampa Bay area and made landfall at Santa Maria Island just west of Bradenton at 10:45 a.m. Monday.
Via Sun Sentinel:
Reports were indicating that street flooding was already starting near the Myakka River in Sarasota and Manatee Counties on the Gulf Coast, the National Hurricane Center said.
The storm wasn’t expected to directly affect South Florida but forecasters said it will dump a lot of rain on us.
Meanwhile, Emily also triggered a State of Emergency declaration from Gov. Rick Scott on Monday morning.
The state of emergency was in effect for 31 counties including Pinellas, Hillsborough, Manatee, Sarasota, Charlotte, and Lee Counties. The declaration “gives the state the the flexibility to work with local governments to ensure that they have the resources they may need,” said a statement from Scott’s office.
Emily was about 35 miles southwest of Tampa and had maximum sustained winds of 45 mph, an increase of about 10 mph from early Wednesday morning when the system had been designated Tropical Depression #6.
Emily was moving east at about 9 mph.
A Tropical Storm Warning is in effect from the Anclote River south to Bonita Beach along Florida’s west coast. The warning means that tropical storm conditions are expected within the next few hours.
“Emily is expected to produce total rain accumulations of 2 to 4 inches through Monday night along the west coast of Central Florida between the Tampa Bay area and Naples, with isolated amounts up to 8 inches possible. Elsewhere across Central and South Florida, 1 to 2 inches of rain is expected with localized amounts of up to 4 inches possible,” forecaster Stacy Stewart said in the latest advisory.
Emily is not expected to strengthen as it makes landfall Monday afternoon and is expected to weaken into a tropical depression again as it moves over the Florida peninsula tonight. After that it will move over the open waters of the Atlantic Ocean.
- Blue Monster Prep
