Heavy rain hits Florida as storm eyes Bahamas
System to be named Alex when it reaches tropical storm status
MIAMI – Parts of South Florida experienced road flooding from heavy rain and wind Saturday as a storm system that battered Mexico moved across the state.
Officials in Miami warned drivers about road conditions as many cars were stuck on flooded streets.
“This is a dangerous and life-threatening situation. Traveling during these conditions is not recommended. It’s better to wait. Turn around, don’t drown,” the city of Miami tweeted.
The city was towing stranded vehicles from flooder roadways.
The National Hurricane Center in Miami said the storm once known as Agatha in the Pacific Ocean will be known as Alex in the Atlantic Ocean basin, once it reaches tropical storm status.
On Saturday afternoon, The storm’s center was located about 40 miles northeast of Fort Pierce, Florida. It was moving northeast at 18 mph, and the general motion was expected to continue through the night. The storm was expected to reach tropical storm strength off the East Coast of Florida by Saturday night and is expected to strengthen through Monday as it moves away from Florida and into the Atlantic Ocean.
A tropical storm warning was discontinued for the east coast of Florida, but remained in effect for parts of the Bahamas, meaning tropical storm conditions were expected somewhere within the warning area, in this case within the next 24 hours.
In Cuba, the storm killed three people, damaged dozens of homes in Havana and cut off electricity in some areas, according to authorities. Heavy rainfall continued Saturday, but was diminishing as the weather system moved away from the island.
The Atlantic hurricane season officially began Tuesday. This is an unusually early start to the storm season but not unprecedented for Florida.
The National Hurricane Center predicts that rainfall up to 10 inches was possible in South Florida.