• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Tropical Storm Alberto weakens as it nears Florida

Posted on: Tuesday, 13 June 2006, 01:38 CDT

By Robert Green

ST. PETERSBURG, Florida (Reuters) - Tropical Storm Alberto weakened as it crept slowly toward Florida's coast on Tuesday, although forecasters said it could still become the year's first hurricane before reaching shore.

The storm's center was still over the Gulf of Mexico at 2 a.m. EDT (0600 GMT), but heavy winds and rains were lashing Florida, where officials had ordered thousands of residents to evacuate barrier islands, flood plains and trailer parks.

At 2 a.m., Alberto's center was about 85 miles west-southwest of Cedar Key, on Florida's west coast, and moving northeast near 10 miles per hour (17 kph), the U.S. National Hurricane Center said. Its maximum sustained winds had slowed to near 65 mph (105 kph), below the 74 mph (119 kph) threshold at which tropical storms become hurricanes.

But forecasters said it could still strengthen before its center moved over Florida late Tuesday morning and a hurricane warning remained in effect for much of the state's west coast.

"This is still strong enough to cause some significant damage," U.S. National Hurricane Center director Max Mayfield told CNN. "We don't want to overdo this but we sure don't want to underdo it either."

Florida Gov. Jeb Bush declared a state of emergency even though the most likely area of landfall was sparsely populated swampland and farming country, with no big cities like New Orleans, devastated in August by Hurricane Katrina.

Florida officials said 26 shelters in 16 counties had been opened for evacuees.

"This is a serious storm and we are taking it seriously," Bush said. "We're not dealing with large numbers of people. But given the storm surge we anticipate and given the velocity of these winds, I hope people aren't being defiant."

EVACUATION ORDERS

Around 21,000 people were affected by evacuation orders. The emergency director in one rural area, Citrus County, went door to door to urge people to seek higher ground.

Energy traders said Alberto's path should take it too far east to cause disruptions or damage to offshore oil and gas platforms battered during last year's record-breaking Atlantic hurricane season. There were 28 tropical storms in the June-November 2005 season, of which 15 became hurricanes.

Experts have forecast another busier-than-average storm year. Alberto's formation less than two weeks after the June 1 start of the season seemed to underscore the predictions.

The hurricane center said 4-8 inches of rain were possible through Tuesday across parts of Florida and Georgia. Storm surge flooding up to 10 feet above normal tide levels was expected across much of the Gulf coast.

While tropical storms pose little threat to developed countries, anxieties in U.S. coastal areas have been heightened following Katrina -- the most costly and one of the deadliest U.S. natural disasters.

Katrina killed more than 1,300 people, caused $80 billion in damage, helped sink President George W. Bush's popularity because of a fumbled emergency response, left tens of thousands homeless and helped lift oil prices to record highs.

Alberto formed on Sunday off Cuba, where there was some minor flooding but no deaths.

(Additional reporting by Michael Peltier in Tallahassee and Patricia Zengerle in Washington)

Source: REUTERS

More News in this Category