The National Weather Service has issued a tropical storm watch and a flash flood watch for local areas including James City and York counties, from Friday night through Saturday evening.
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Hurricane Hermine pounded Florida’s Gulf Coast with rapidly strengthening winds and flooding rainfall on Thursday, leaving thousands in the dark and even more hunkered down, prepared for the worst.
At a news conference Thursday, the governor said authorities expected a strong storm surge, high winds, downed trees and power failures when Hermine comes ashore. Flooding was expected across a wide swath of the marshy coastline of the Big Bend – the mostly rural and lightly populated corner where the Florida peninsula meets the Panhandle. The storm is expected to produce 5 to 10 inches of rain, with isolated areas seeing up to 20 inches.
By 11 p.m. EDT, maximum winds were listed at 80 mph (130 kph), with hurricane-force winds extending up to 45 miles (75 km) from the storm’s centre.
Located about 70km south-southeast of Apalachicola, Florida at 8pm, it was expected to make landfall Thursday night or early on Friday.
While residents have stocked up on food and evacuated low-lying areas, winds are beginning to reach speeds of up to 80mph.
The storm should head northeast through northern Florida tonight, and into Georgia by late Thursday night. Several Florida schools announced closings on Thursday or Friday due to the storm.
The surge of ocean water could be as high as 9 feet above normal levels, forecasters said, as authorities warned its effect was not limited to Florida.
Once the storm hits land, it is expected to weaken and move north up along the East Coast.
Residents of flood-prone areas should take steps now to protect their property, according to the weather service. He ordered all state offices in those 51 counties to close by noon Thursday.
The last hurricane to strike Florida was Wilma, a powerful Category 3 storm that arrived on October 24 2005.
For those who don’t live in the Sunshine State, the words “Florida” and “hurricane” might feel rather synonymous. The city, roughly 35 miles from the coast, has not had a direct hit from a hurricane in 30 years. Beaufort County is predicted to get four to eight inches of rain from the storm.
Eddie Bass, who owns a home in Alligator Point, said he wasn’t boarding up his home because he was much more anxious about the storm surge.
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“The most important thing we all must put in our minds is that this is life threatening”, Scott told reporters at the Florida Emergency Management Center.
