Tropical Storm Ernesto Targets S. Florida

Tropical Storm Ernesto’s center left Cuba early Tuesday and was regaining strength over open water as it headed for South Florida.

At 8 a.m., Ernesto had sustained winds of 45 mph, about 215 miles south southeast of Miami. It was traveling northwest near 14 mph, leading forecasters at the U.S. National Hurricane Center to put most of southern Florida under a hurricane watch.

The National Hurricane Center said rain bands and squalls from Ernesto would start by the afternoon. Forecasters said the center of Ernesto was expected to come ashore around midnight in Florida between Cape Sable and Homestead, the area hard-hit by Hurricane Andrew in 1992, south of Miami.

Forecasters said strengthening was likely to make the storm near hurricane status, where winds exceed 74 mph when it arrives.

Schools in Miami-Dade and Broward counties were closed and shelters opened in the two counties, The Miami Herald reported. Federal officials also began positioning hundreds of trucks filled with ice and water as Miami-Dade ordered a mandatory Tuesday evacuation of residents living in trailer parks and unsafe structures beginning at 7 a.m.