Eta weakened again to a tropical typhoon Wednesday afternoon, just hours after regaining strength from the hurricane as Florida was briefly ready for a typhoon along the Gulf Coast near the heavily populated area of Tampa Bay. Florida as it moved north.
Further weakening was expected as the coast of Eta approached.
Meteorologists at the National Hurricane Center in Miami issued an alert for a 120-mile stretch that includes Tampa and St. Petersburg. The typhoon has been ravaging the Gulf of Mexico since it crossed South Florida on Sunday.
The Tampa Bay domain is home to more than 3. 5 million people in five coastal counties. No mandatory evacuation was ordered without delay, but the government began opening shelters for anyone in need.
Tampa Mayor Jane Beaver said special care is taken in shelters to protect others from coronavirus, such as social estating, and recommended that others bring their own masks.
“Every effort will be made to keep all our citizens safe,” Castor said.
The last guard stretched from Anna Maria Island, south of St. Petersburg, to Yankeetown.
The forecast led school officials in Pinellas and Pasco counties, including St. Petersburg, to send students home early Wednesday, both counties announced that they would remain closed on Thursday, as would neighboring Hillsborough County.
The Florida Highway Patrol closed the Sunshine Skyway Bridge, which connects Pinellas and Manatee counties due to strong winds, and Tampa International Airport tweeted it would suspend operations at 3 p. m. Wednesday.
In Pasco County, the government has established 4 DIY sites for others to fill sandbags. In Tampa, Busch Gardens announced that it would be closed wednesday and several Veterans Day occasions in the domain were canceled.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis issued an expanded emergency statement to include thirteen counties along or near the Gulf Coast, adding them to South Florida counties. the storm.
A coronavirus control site at Tropicana Field also closed on Wednesday.
Eta focused about 115 miles southwest of Tampa on Wednesday and moved northeast at approximately 10 mph.
The middle of the hurricane said a “life-threatening typhoon surge” was imaginable early Thursday, and meteorologists pleaded with citizens to heed warnings from local authorities. Tropical winds with typhoon strength are expected in the region until Wednesday night.
The forecast forecasts for more formula rain from typhoons in parts of South Florida that have already flooded.
“I’ve never noticed this, ever, so deep,” said Anthony Lyas, who has lived in his now flooded Fort Lauderdale community since 1996. He described hearing water and debris hitting his enclosed space overnight when the typhoon passed through Florida.
The typhoon first hit Nicaragua as a category four hurricane and killed at least 120 other people in Central America and Mexico, with dozens more missing. He then moved to the Gulf of Mexico early Monday morning near where the Everglades meet the sea, with a sustained maximum. 50 mph winds.
The water had nowhere to cross much of South Florida, which had already suffered about 14 inches of rain in October.
Eta hit the floor last Sunday as he flew over Lower Matecumbe, amid the chain of small islands that make up the Keys, but the most populous spaces in Miami-Dade and Broward counties have been hit by fury.
Earlier this year, CBSN Originals explored how climate gentrification threatened Miami’s latest housing portfolio in the documentary “Rising Tide: Priced Out in Miami. “
Eta the 28th typhoon named after a busy hurricane season in the Atlantic, tying the 2005 record for named typhoons. And defeated on Monday, he followed the 29th typhoon: Theta.
The middle of the hurricane said Theta broke the record for 28 named storms set in 2005 and focused Wednesday afternoon about 670 miles southwest of the Azores, withstanding sustained winds of 60 mph as the formula moved from east to northeast to 10 mph.