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Alberto to bring misery from the air and sea

High winds and high water, potentially flooding low-lying and coastal areas, are expected today as Alberto closes in on Florida. Power outages also are likely.

By Times Staff
Published June 13, 2006

Six feet of surf and driving rains are expected to threaten St. Petersburg's bayfront and other parts of Pinellas County this morning, the effects of an unexpectedly strong first storm this hurricane season.

Tropical Storm Alberto is projected to make landfall about 150 miles north of St. Petersburg at 8 a.m. Tuesday, but the problems spun off by the widening storm could be far worse locally than anyone believed just days ago, emergency management officials say.

Beach erosion, wind debris and power outages are now all expected in Pinellas County as a result of the tropical storm, which bordered Monday night on hurricane status.

Two to four inches of rain are likely to drench the area on and off all day, with the most significant rain falling before noon, National Weather Service meteorologist Richard Rude said.

Residents also can expect tidal surges four to six feet higher than normal around high tide, which is at 1 p.m. in Clearwater and about 3 p.m. in St. Petersburg.

The combination of rains and storm surge could flood traditional low-lying neighborhoods across Pinellas, said emergency officials. They anticipate similar flood levels to that of Hurricane Frances in 2004, which affected about 200 homes in St. Petersburg, or Tropical Storm Josephine in 1996, which put saltwater in thousands of homes along the gulf front, including 800 homes in St. Petersburg.

St. Petersburg emergency management director Bob Ballou was particularly worried that parts of waterfront neighborhoods in Shore Acres and Coquina Key could flood with the high surf.

Pinellas County emergency management director Gary Vickers also feared flooding from Madeira Beach northward along the gulf coast, and in the low-lying areas in Oldsmar and Safety Harbor.

Vickers singled out the uppermost portion of Tampa Bay as particularly susceptible, with the greatest threat there during a high tide from 2 a.m. to 4 a.m. Tuesday.

St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Baker said residents whose homes have flooded in the past should fortify their homes with sandbags.

Most cities in Pinellas made sandbags available to residents fearful of the rains. "Do what you can to protect yourself," Baker urged Monday.

The storm also will bring strong winds between 6 a.m. and noon, forecasters predict, with wind speeds of 45 mph and gusts reaching 70 mph.

The winds likely will uproot trees, given previously dry conditions, and knock out electricity to vulnerable parts of the county.

"If there's no reason to go out, you'd probably be better off staying inside," said the National Weather Service's Rude.

There were no plans to close any Pinellas County bridges as of late Monday, Vickers said. Bridge closings are declared on a case-by-case basis, he said, when high winds and waves make travel across them too dangerous.

Three evacuation shelters did open in the county Monday night, though no one had been ordered out of their homes.

John Prior, 65, wasn't about to wait for an order, unable to forget what he saw on television last year: residents stranded on rooftops in New Orleans, waving their hands for passing helicopters hoping to be saved.

"I'm not taking any chances," he said, signing in at one of the open evacuation shelters at the Northside Baptist Church on 38th Avenue N in St. Petersburg. "Better to be safe than sorry."

At the Trinity Presbyterian Church shelter in Clearwater, the Red Cross had supplies ready for 400 people but only three had shown up as of early Monday evening.

And at the shelter set up in a multipurpose room at First United Methodist Church, at 501 East Tarpon Ave. in Tarpon Springs, about four people had sought refuge there by about 7 p.m. Monday.

Ricardo Morales, the Red Cross shelter manager, wasn't sure how many people would seek shelter at the church. "We're at the mercy of the weather and what people do," he said.

Staff Writers Paul Swider, Rebecca Catalanello, Vanessa de la Torre and Lorri Helfand contributed to this report

[Last modified June 13, 2006, 04:37:21]