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Tropical depression begins moving north

Tropical Depression Nine has not been upgraded to a tropical storm, as of the latest update by the National Hurricane Center at 11 p.m. Located 320 miles east-northeast of Cape Hatteras, NC, Eight is moving northeast away from the coast at 16 mph. It has the potential to pack Category 1 hurricane force winds as it moves inland, state DEM director Bryan Koon said.

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After that, the storm would head across Florida and “brush the entire Southeast coastline with rain, beach erosion and windy conditions on Friday”, according to NBC meteorologist Bill Karins. The tropical storm warning, issued Wednesday morning, covers an area from Anclote River to the Walton County-Bay County line.

“By declaring a state of emergency in advance of this storm, we are ensuring that state, regional and local agencies can work together to meet the needs of our communities”, Scott said in a statement.

About 8,000 members of the Florida National Guard are on standby to aid residents ahead of the storm, the governor stated.

CARRABELLE, Fla. (AP) – Hurricane Hermine made landfall in Florida’s Big Bend area early Friday as the first hurricane to hit the state in more than a decade, bringing soaking rain, high winds and thousands of power outages.

It has a maximum wind speed of 60 miles per hour as it moves north-northeast at 8 miles per hour.

Once on land, the storm looks to track through southern Georgia, and then heads up the coast of SC. The storm system could become a depression on Wednesday but no coastal watches or warnings are in effect and the storm is not expected to affect land.

In preparation for the storm in Florida, coastal residents have been evacuated, schools and colleges are closed Thursday and Friday, and officials have opened shelters for evacuees.

Forecasters said the system could strengthen back into a hurricane by Monday morning off the Maryland-Delaware coast before weakening again as it moves north.

The latest path also shows the system moving a bit slower, making landfall late Thursday night.

WALB’s First Alert Weather Team declared Thursday to be a First Alert Weather Day due to the Tropical Storm. A break in the rain before more showers were expected also brought families out at midday. That high volume could trigger flash flooding.

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And farther to the east was Hurricane Gaston, which was a powerful Category 3 hurricane on Wednesday morning with 115 miles per hour winds.

TRACKING THE TROPICS: Depression moves toward NC coast