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Bay area dodges a tropical bullet

Tropical StormAlberto causes sporadic power outages and closes roadways, but generally leaves the bay area unharmed as it makes landfall Tuesday.

By JUSTIN GEORGE
Published June 14, 2006

"It's the year of the dog," she said Tuesday from the steps of her mobile home. "Bad luck."

She has lived on peaceful Dove Drive for 13 relatively quiet years in a community called Carefree Villages. But Alberto peeled the metal roof off her single-wide mobile home and left it against her neighbor's deck like a piece of foil.

The storm rolled ashore around noon near Adams Beach, southeast of Tallahassee. Dry air and cooler waters tamed the storm as it moved toward shore.

The top sustained wind speeds at landfall were 45 mph, far short of the 74 mph threshold for a Category 1 hurricane.

Alberto failed to land a decisive blow to much of the Gulf Coast on Tuesday.

Here and there, it singled out trees, including one that landed on a roof along Lenna Avenue in Seffner, forcing inhabitants from their home.

And the storm delivered a sucker punch to coastal Citrus County.

Floodwaters, swelled by a high tide, crept toward residences and businesses in Ozello, Homosassa and Crystal River for much of Tuesday.

Most were spared. Several weren't.

Standing in a few inches of water inside his rental home near the Homosassa River, Jeff Grybek just shrugged his shoulders.

"It's Mother Nature," he said. "She always bats last."

The storm forced hundreds of evacuations along the Gulf Coast and knocked out power for about 21,000 customers. Much of the power was restored by Tuesday night.

Across Florida, rains from Alberto extinguished 15 of 168 active wild fires by Tuesday afternoon, with more likely to be declared officially out by late today.

The rain was also good news for the state's growers, particularly in Central Florida, who had suffered through spring with little rain, said Agriculture Commissioner Charles Bronson.

The state had received no reports of fatalities and no search-and-rescue calls by midafternoon Tuesday. There was no disruption of fuel to Florida ports.

"It's the same as what happened last year," said Gov. Jeb Bush. "We plan for the worst, we hope for the best and we pray a lot."

Alberto formed out of a tropical depression late last week and moved north into the Gulf of Mexico, drenching Cuba and southwest Florida.

It quickly intensified over the Loop Current on Monday, nearly gaining hurricane status, before the dry air and cooler waters eroded its power early Tuesday.

Many residents woke up Tuesday to blue skies and scattered clouds with some gusty winds.

Hillsborough County experienced conditions similar to a typical summer storm, Tampa Electric spokeswoman Laura Duda said.

TECO reported just over 4,000 power outages scattered throughout Hillsborough.

Power was cut at the Department of Children and Families regional headquarters, where generators fueled the customer call center and the computer room.

By 1:15 p.m., outages were down to 1,180, TECO officials said. All were expected to be fixed by today.

Eastern Hillsborough saw localized flooding but no major damage was reported, County Commissioner Ronda Storms said.

Water crept toward back yards along Apollo Beach and Ruskin canals Tuesday afternoon but began to subside by 4 p.m.

Bayshore Boulevard in South Tampa closed early Tuesday but was fine by morning rush hour.

A churning Hillsborough Bay tried to disrupt traffic again in the afternoon, when high tide pushed water over Bayshore's sea wall. Emergency vehicles monitored the surge and briefly blocked one lane.

But that was the extent of it.

"There were some puddles," Hillsborough County emergency planner Holley Wade said.

Red Cross shelters closed. Schools announced they'd reopen today. Wind speeds never climbed to 40 mph during the storm, TECO reported.

All of which is why Culp, 42, felt bewildered when she awoke about 1 a.m. to hear her roof come off. A tornado, maybe?

"That's going to be a mystery forever," she said.

The rest of her neighborhood was unscathed, and a news helicopter over her home amplified Culp's lonely feeling.

"Why just here?" she asked.

The question reverberated as Culp and her son, Travis, 19, stripped the living room and kitchen bare, moving belongings into a room next to the carport, which still had a roof.

She planned to stay with in-laws while she waited for an insurance agent and the Red Cross.

Culp knew she could no longer count on what made home home:

A roof over her head.

"I hope it doesn't rain," she said.

Times staff writers Graham Brink, Sue Carlton, Joni James, Michael Kruse, Alex Leary, Ben Montgomery, Jorge Sanchez and Catherine Shoichet contributed to this report. Justin George can be reached at jgeorge@sptimes.com or 813 226-3368.

[Last modified June 18, 2006, 11:28:12]