2 hurricanes, tropical storm spin in Atlantic
None poses threat to S. Fla., for now; Carolinas brace for Florence.
Yes, it only was a year ago that a major hurricane forced Floridians to navigate gas shortages, endure a gridlock-plagued evacuation and sweat through days of power outages.
Conjuring bitter memories from last year’s storm season, two cyclones in the Atlantic Ocean intensified into Category 1 hurricanes on Sunday and a third was flirting with hurricane status, the National Hurricane Center said. Florence and Helene graduated from tropical storms during the day, and Isaac was expected to follow.
Hurricane Florence was the strongest and closest of the tropical trio, but so far it appears much less menacing for Florida than did Hurricane Irma, the monster storm that threatened in September 2017 before its westward jog let much of the state escape significant damage.
Florence, for its part, strengthened into a hurricane before noon Sunday, when sustained winds increased to 75 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center. By 5 p.m., Florence’s winds had climbed to 85 mph.
Forecasters expect Florence to develop into a major hurricane today and remain “an extremely dangerous major hurricane” through Thursday when it is projected to approach South and North Carolina.
As of Sunday evening, the hurricane was about 720 miles southeast of Bermuda and some 1,600 miles east of Florida. Forecasters expected Florence to spare Florida as it makes landfall in the Carolinas.
In South Carolina, the gover-
nor declared a state of emergency Saturday to encourage residents to begin putting up shutters, stocking up on water and planning evacuations. North Carolina’s governor made a similar declaration on Friday.
Preparations for Florence stretched up into Virginia. Employees at Naval Station Norfolk were warned not to leave vehicles parked at the sprawling base due to the possibility of flooding.
Meanwhile, South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster said residents should “pretend, assume, presume that a major hurricane is going to hit smack dab in the middle of South Carolina and is going to go way inshore.”
For Palm Beach County, large waves will be the most visible effect from Florence, National Weather Service meteorologist Anthony Reynes said Sunday. He said the region could see waves of 5 to 6 feet Thursday and 8 to 10 feet Friday.
Even with Florence far from Florida on Sunday, the storm’s surf already had arrived. According to Surfline.com, Cocoa Beach and other areas in Central Florida saw waves of 3 to 4 feet on Sunday.
The other two storms remained closer to Africa than to the U.S., meaning they’re too far away for forecasters to hazard a guess about how they might affect Florida.
“It’s too early to tell right now,” Reynes said.
Forecasters expected Helene to make a hard right turn Wednesday and remain well out to sea, far from Florida and the rest of the U.S. Helene achieved hurricane status Sunday evening when the National Hurricane Center said its top winds reached 75 mph.
But Isaac looked more troubling. Its projected path showed it moving due east and passing over or near Puerto Rico on Thursday.
Isaac remained a tropical storm with top winds of 70 mph as of 5 p.m. Sunday, but forecasters said it would strengthen to a Category 1 hurricane overnight. In a bit of good news for Puerto Rico, which is still recovering from Hurricane Maria’s landfall in 2017, Isaac is expected to weaken by midweek.