Posted on 08/02/2024 2:11:33 PM PDT by NautiNurse
Tropical Storm watches and warnings have been issued from the Florida Keys up the Florida Gulf Coast to Suwanee. The system is crossing Central Cuba, moving at 16mph. The disturbance is expected to develop into a tropical depression on Saturday as it moves across the Straits of Florida, followed by intensification into a tropical storm by Saturday night. Governor DeSantis declared a state of emergency for 54 counties, most along the Gulf Coast and in northern Florida, to move assets in preparation for the storm.
August 13 marks 20 years since Hurricane Charley made landfall near Punta Gorda FL.
The rapid strengthening of Charley in the eastern Gulf of Mexico caught many by surprise. Around five hours before its Florida landfall, Charley was a strong Category 2 hurricane predicted to strengthen its strongest winds to 115 mph upon its landfall in the Tampa–Saint Petersburg area. About two hours before landfall, the National Hurricane Center issued a special advisory, notifying the public that Charley had become a 145 mph Category 4 hurricane, with a predicted landfall location in the Port Charlotte area. As a result of this change in forecast, numerous people in the Charlotte County area were unprepared for the hurricane, although the new track prediction was well within the previous forecast's margin of error. National Hurricane Center forecasting intern Robbie Berg publicly blamed the media for misleading residents into believing that a Tampa landfall was inevitable.
Mash the graphics below to enlarge. All links and images are self-updating.
Tropical Tidbits by Levi Cowan
Local News:
FOX4 News Southwest Florida
WWSB Sarasota/Bradenton
WFLA Tampa Bay
WESH2 Orlando
500 PM EDT Update
-------------------------------
About 120 MI W of Tampa FL
About 125 MI SW of Cedar Key FL
Max Sustained Winds...65 MPH
Movement...N at 12 MPH
Minimum Pressure...992 MB
Tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 140 miles from the center.
On/Off Hurricane List Mash Here--> 
Just got the super loud Emergency Alert Warning on our phones… warning us we are about 36 hours from possible life threatening storm surge. 🙁
The Katrina flooding occurred because the levees protecting the homes below sea level broke. If you know your elevation, that is a good start for planning.
Here in central Florida, 50 miles east of Tampa it has been steady, but light rain. Not much wind at all.
There are 17,000+ customer power outages in Pinellas Co. per Duke Energy. TECO reports 3000 customers in Hillsborough Co.
Tornado Warning Pinellas Co. until 6:15. Near St. Pete Beach, near Seminole, moving N.
Along the west coast I am sure the winds are higher. It is not extending inland too much. The Big Bend area of Florida will get smacked as the storm intensifies.
PS it keeps getting worse here. It's been better'n a half gale all day with constant but light rain. Now it's gusting to a full gale with heavy rain and the first rumbles of thunder I've heard all day. Oh, and naders.
Whole Tampa Bay area is under flash flood warning. No surprise there with all the rain and some storm surge expected. A few more hours of rain expected, though not as persistently torrential.
It's not a certainty, of course, but enough for y'all in that area to take heed.
Pouring here, wind is light. Peculiar storm.
More concerned about our FRiends in Georgia and the Carolinas now..
Local news showing video of Howard Frankland Bridge in Tampa being washed over. Bridge is still open, cars getting swamped with bay water.
Flash floods--reports of fresh water rescues occurring in Manatee Co.
Lots of Yankees (and folks from Atlanta - is there any difference now) have moved out on those coastal islands. It could get messy for them.
We got flooding everywhere.
Damn storm is getting its sh!t together.
5.56mm
BULLETIN
Tropical Storm Debby Intermediate Advisory Number 10A
NWS National Hurricane Center Miami FL AL042024
800 PM EDT Sun Aug 04 2024
...DEBBY STRENGTHENING AS IT HEADS TOWARD THE FLORIDA BIG BEND
AREA...
...WILL BRING A MAJOR FLOOD THREAT TO THE SOUTHEASTERN UNITED
STATES THIS WEEK...
SUMMARY OF 800 PM EDT...0000 UTC...INFORMATION
I lived in southeast Georgia for 25+ years (retired from working for the City of Savannah). In all the time I worked and lived there (and during the ten years I have lived in Texas) they never seem to have dealt adequately with street flooding no matter how much $$ they spend on drainage projects. Besides that, just a run of the mill high tide will flood Hwy 80 and make it impassable (the one road leading to Tybee Island)
Is your flooding a combination of rain and storm surge?
Both.
5.56mm
Savannah is pretty low-lying and the streets do not have any drainage. So yeah, if they get a few inches of rain in a short amount of time, access to Tybee will be impossible. I assume the residents are making plans to stay where they are are for a few days.
Hubby has relatives in Brunswick, Some who live right on the marshes a couple of miles from the access road to Jekyll. I believe they are battening down the hatches as best they can and heading northwest to ride it out.
Gust up to 60 now. Starting to howl.
What’s happening with forward movement?
5.56mm
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.