New storm gains strength, heads toward Florida
Tropical Depression 16 expected to bring several days of rainfall.
By JONI JAMES
Published September 6, 2005
Much of Florida's east coast was under alert early today as a new tropical weather system formed offshore and threatened to douse parts of the state with up to 10 inches of rain.
Tropical Depression 16 formed Tuesday southeast of Miami and was expected today to become a tropical storm, with sustained winds of at least 39 mph.
While its path is uncertain, forecasters predicted it would take a northwesterly track, skirting the east coast before making landfall early Saturday, just south of the Jacksonville area, with winds of up to 70 mph.
The major concern is rain, with predictions of 10 inches of rain for some areas along the east coast, and isolated areas getting up to 15 inches.
The Tampa Bay area is apt to see scattered showers for the next several days, and heavier rainfall if the system takes a more westerly course.
"We can expect a fair amount of rain over the next several days," said Nick Petro, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Ruskin. "It's a little too early for exact rainfall estimates, but obviously some places are going to get hit hard."
Just how hard depends on the storm's track.
"It's a complicated scenario," Petro said. "Right now it's a slow-moving system with several other competing weather systems trying to determine where exactly it goes."
The latest storm developed only four days from peak hurricane season, generally considered to be about Sept. 10, in what already has been a record year.
With 14 named storms already, the 2005 season is rapidly approaching the busiest hurricane season on record, 21 named storms in 1933.
While forecasters are keeping close watch on the storm off Florida's east coast, two other tropical storms are churning in the Atlantic.
Tropical Storm Nate intensified south of Bermuda, while Hurricane Maria weakened on its way to the colder waters of the north Atlantic.
Nate, the 14th named storm of the season, was about 275 miles south-southwest of Bermuda with top sustained winds near 60 mph. Forecasters at the National Hurricane Center said that by today it could become a hurricane, with sustained winds of at least 74 mph. It is expected to turn to the northeast.
Hurricane Maria on Monday developed into a Category 3 hurricane, with top wind speeds at 115 mph. Later in the day, however, its top winds were down to about 100 mph, or a Category 2 storm.
With hurricane season in high gear, Gov. Jeb Bush said Tuesday the state's effort in helping Hurricane Katrina victims will not hinder its ability to respond if another storm hits Florida.
"I asked "Are we ready?'," Bush said. "And the answer back was an emphatic "Yes,' that we are not stretched to our limits."
Bush said Florida's commitment to the recovery efforts in Mississippi and Louisiana has peaked at 3,800 personnel and that number will recede as other states help with long-term efforts.
Much of Florida's response was urban search-and-rescue teams from fire and police departments across the state, many of which are now returning to Florida, said Craig Fugate, Florida emergency management director.
Florida's mass response to other states was due in part to a "unique situation that we were preparing for the same storm so we had people already deployed and it was easy just to keep moving west," Bush said.
More than 20 percent of Florida's 12,000 National Guardsmen are currently on duty either overseas or for Hurricane Katrina.
About 2,000 guardsmen are overseas, including roughly 1,500 in the Middle East. About 500 have been deployed in Louisiana or Mississippi for Hurricane Katrina with another 130 in Florida supporting their efforts.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.