Stay with News 2 and http://www.counton2.com for continuing coverage of Tropical Storm Colin.
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The National Hurricane Center says Colin is expected to approach Florida’s Big Bend area by Monday evening and southeastern Georgia early Tuesday.
Tropical Storm Colin is now 110 miles northeast of Jacksonville, FL, moving quickly at 31 mph.
The Georgia coast and the north Florida Atlantic coast were placed under a tropical storm watch Sunday evening. Residents in Eastern Carolina should pay close attention to the changing forecast as this could bring more heavy rain for portions of the Coast. The state of emergency was declared for Alachua, Baker, Bradford, Brevard, Citrus, Clay, Columbia, Dixie, Duval, Flagler, Franklin, Gilchrist, Hernando, Hillsborough, Jefferson, Lafayette, Lake, Levy, Manatee, Marion, Nassau, Orange, Pasco, Pinellas, Putnam, Sarasota, Seminole, St. Johns, Sumter, Suwannee, Taylor, Union, Volusia and Wakulla counties.
The National Weather Service had predicted that Colin would dump up to 5 inches of rain on the area. Officials said conditions will be rough but they’re not expecting high winds to be a problem with the storm.
“That’s the difference between being a coastal county and being inland like we are”, she said.
At 2pm, the center of Tropical Storm Colin is about 245 miles west of Tampa, Florida, or about 420 miles southwest of Savannah.
Scott said in an interview that there were no reports of major damage, but the state will be tracking flooding from the sudden deluge of rain, much of which fell during high tides Monday. Top sustained winds are 50 miles per hour with higher gusts. A Tropical Storm Warning is in effect for Charleston, Berkeley, Colleton, and Beaufort counties through midday Tuesday.
Colin is expected to produce rainfall amounts of 3 to 6 inches, and forecasters said up to 8 inches are possible across north Florida, southeastern Georgia and coastal areas of the Carolinas through Tuesday.
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A tropical storm warning was also in effect for the entire Georgia coast and the lower SC coast. Over the U.S. Memorial Day holiday weekend, the Carolinas were lashed by heavy rain and winds from Tropical Storm Bonnie. Schools, public parks and some courthouses along west-central Florida were closed early as the winds began to whip up.
