Fred leaves thousands of Florida Pandhandle residents without power
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Tropical Storm Fred brought heavy rains over the U.S. Southeast early Tuesday while earthquake-damaged Haiti reeled under a drenching from Grace, a depression that regained tropical storm status overnight. But a new storm was expected to strengthen into a tropical storm Tuesday, targeting Haiti and Texas before moving into the Gulf of Mexico.
Fred’s maximum sustained winds had weakened after landfall and were now at 40 mph, the National Hurricane Center said. The weather service had lifted all watches and warnings surrounding the storm by late Monday.
No deaths have been reported from Fred, though thousands of Florida Panhandle residents were reported without power in the hours after its late Monday landfall. Emergency crews in the Panhandle were repairing downed power lines and clearing toppled trees in Fred’s aftermath.
Fred was one of three storms swirling in the Atlantic Basin. Lining up behind Fred were Tropical Storm Grace, which gained strength early Tuesday after drenching the Dominican Republic and earthquake-battered Haiti Monday, and Tropical Storm Henri, which formed Monday afternoon near Bermuda. Henri became the eighth named storm of the Atlantic season.
The National Hurricane Center said a tropical storm watch was in effect for Bermuda.
President Joe Biden declared a state of emergency in Florida as Fred threatened flooding, tornadoes and damaging winds. A state of emergency authorizes the Federal Emergency Management Agency to assist local and state emergency efforts.
Fred wallops Florida, Alabama
Along Panama City Beach in Florida’s Panhandle, lifeguards hoisted double red flags, warning beachgoers against going into the Gulf of Mexico. The area braced for rain and some wind from the storm, and although no evacuations were ordered, schools and government offices were closed Monday.
“We’ve certainly been in a lot worse than this, but that’s no reason to be complacent,” Florida’s Bay County Sheriff Tommy Ford said. “The less people out on the road, the better. We do expect some heavy rain from this storm.”
Saltwater washed over roads, causing flooding in low-lying areas of Dauphin Island, a coastal barrier south of Mobile, Alabama, on Monday, Mayor Jeff Collier said.
A few tornadoes were possible later Monday across parts of the Florida Panhandle, southwest Georgia and southeast Alabama, the hurricane center said.
Fred’s drenching rains could sweep into the mid-Atlantic states
Portions of the South could see up to 4-8 inches of rain with isolated maximum storm totals of 12 inches, the hurricane center warned Monday. Southeast Alabama through western and northern Georgia and the western Carolinas could be drenched with 4-7 inches of rain with isolated maximum storm totals of 10 inches.
Through Wednesday, portions of Virginia and other mid-Atlantic states were forecast to see 2 to 4 inches of rain with isolated maximum storm totals of 6 inches as Fred interacts with a nearby front, the center said.
The heavy rainfall could lead to flash, urban, small stream and isolated river flooding, the center said. Landslides were possible along the Blue Ridge mountains Tuesday.
Fred’s center is forecast to dissipate by Wednesday morning, the National Weather Service said.
‘Life-threatening’ Fred: Tropical storm closing in on Florida
‘Life-threatening’ storm surge possible
The combination of a dangerous storm surge and the tide will cause normally dry areas near the Panhandle’s coast to be flooded by rising waters moving inland from the shoreline, the hurricane center warned. Storm surge could reach 5 feet in some areas.
“There is a danger of life-threatening inundation from rising water moving inland,” the center said.
Tropical Storm Grace slams Haiti
Grace lashed earthquake-damaged Haiti as a tropical depression on Monday, dumping up to 10 inches of rain before regaining tropical storm status early Tuesday. The heavy rains pelted people huddling in fields and searching for survivors.
The storm couldn’t have come at a worse time for Haitians struggling to deal with the effects of Saturday’s 7.2 magnitude earthquake, blamed for more than an estimated 1,300 deaths.
Forecasters said Grace was moving early Tuesday near or over the Tiburon Peninsula of Haiti on a forecast track expected to take it between southeastern Cuba and Jamaica by Tuesday afternoon. It had top sustained winds of 35 mph and was headed to the west near 14 mph.
Texas could be Grace’s US target
Grace is expected to emerge in the Gulf of Mexico this week, and the U.S. Gulf Coast could be a target. AccuWeather forecasters said they are monitoring the atmospheric conditions and how they could influence where Grace will track into the weekend. These factors include the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico, as well as winds at various levels in the atmosphere.
“Should no other weather systems in the southern United States steer Grace off-course, the tropical system may take aim at Texas,” AccuWeather said.
Far southern Texas remained in Grace’s potential forecast path, but the storm appeared more likely to impact Mexico, according to the latest forecast from the hurricane center, issued Monday morning. Grace was forecast to reach minimal hurricane strength of 74 mph before making landfall, the hurricane center said.
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Tropical Storm Henri develops near Bermuda
Tropical Storm Henri had maximum sustained winds around 45 mph and was about 140 miles southeast of Bermuda as of Monday night.
The storm was expected to make a “slow clockwise turn toward the west” over the next few days, forecasters said in an advisory. The center of the depression was forecast to move southeast and south of the island territory.
Though early in the storm’s development, forecasters did not expect Henri to reach the U.S. coast.
Contributing: Elinor Aspegren, USA TODAY; The Associated Press