A tropical storm warning was in effect Sunday for most of the Florida Panhandle as the remnants of Fred took aim for the coast and Grace threatened to follow suit later in the week.
Fred, which regained tropical storm status early Sunday, could blast parts of the panhandle with up to a foot of rain and possibly tornadoes Monday and Tuesday, the National Weather Service said. And Grace could be worse.
“Indications point toward Grace tracking slightly farther to the north compared to Fred, so places like the United States… could endure greater impacts compared to Fred,” AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Adam Douty warned.
The storm has maximum sustained winds of 50 mph, according to an advisory issued at 11 p.m. EDT from the National Hurricane Center. Fred was located Sunday afternoon about 200 miles south of Panama City, Florida, and moving north-northwest at 9 mph.
On the forecast track, the system was expected to cross the Gulf of Mexico and make landfall in the western Florida Panhandle Monday afternoon or Monday night, the weather service said.
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A storm surge warning was in effect for parts of the panhandle. Jack Beven, a senior hurricane specialist, urged local residents to follow evacuation and other instructions from local authorities.
“This is a life-threatening situation,” Beven said. “Take all necessary actions to protect life and property from rising water and the potential for other dangerous conditions.”
Gov. Ron DeSantis has issued a state of emergency for 23 of Florida’s 67 counties. Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey said authorities in her state also were monitoring the storm and encouraged residents to be “weather aware.”
“Fred’s current projected path includes Alabama,” she said. “We are keeping a close eye on this storm as the forecast develops and will be ready to act from the state level if needed.”
Fred roared through the Caribbean as a tropical storm earlier in the week before weakening to a depression. It rolled over the Dominican Republic and Haiti, knocking out power to 400,000 homes and businesses before Haiti was then rocked by a massive earthquake.
The flooding forced Dominican authorities to shut down part of an aqueduct system, interrupting water service for hundreds of thousands of people. Local officials reported hundreds of people were evacuated and some buildings were damaged.
As Fred continued its march, Grace was demoted to a tropical depression as its maximum sustained winds fell to 35 mph, below the 39 mph threshold for a tropical storm. It was located 260 miles east-southeast of Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
Tropical storm warnings for Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands were discontinued. A tropical storm watch was issued for Haiti. The storm was moving west at 15 mph.
The storm would intensify problems in Haiti, which remains in turmoil from the magnitude 7.2 earthquake early Saturday that crumbled buildings, killed more than 700 people and injured at least 2,800 people. Even before the quake, hospitals in the nation of 11 million people had been struggling with the coronavirus pandemic and a lack of resources to deal with it.
Douty said Grace could slam parts of the Southeast U.S. with heavy rains and strong winds by week’s end if it maintains its organization.
Source: USA Today
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