Tropical Storm Nestor forms, threatening US Gulf Coast

MIAMI >> Tropical Storm Nestor formed in the Gulf of Mexico on Friday, threatening the northern Gulf Coast with rising seawater, high winds and heavy rains.

The National Hurricane Center said high winds and dangerous storm surge were likely along parts of the northern Gulf Coast, plus heavy rain that could help a parched region deal with a drought.

Conditions were expected to get worse along the coast late Friday into early Saturday. Events including high school football games were canceled or postponed, but officials were trying to calm fears of a hard hit similar to Hurricane Michael last year.

Forecasters said at 1 p.m. Friday that the system was about 195 miles (315 kilometers) south of the mouth of the Mississippi River. It had top sustained winds of 60 mph (95 kph) and was moving to the northeast at 22 mph (35 kph).

Nestor was forecast to hit the coast around Mexico Beach on Saturday morning without strengthening into a hurricane. Blasted by Michael in October 2018, the area is still trying to recover.

A tropical storm warning was in effect from the Mississippi-Alabama line to Yankeetown, Florida, and from Grand Isle, Louisiana, to the mouth of the Pearl River.

Forecasters expect blustery winds and heavy rain in parts of Alabama, Georgia and northern Florida, reaching the Carolinas and Virginia by Sunday.

The Coast Guard said 20-foot (6-meter) seas were possible around Panama City, and dangerous rip currents were possible along beaches during what is still a busy tourism period.

In New Orleans, winds hampered crews that were trying to place explosives to topple to damaged construction cranes towering over a partially collapse hotel project at the edge of the French Quarter. Officials delayed plans to bring down the structures before Nestor approached.

“We’re working as fast as possible,” said Fire Chief Tim McConnell.

High schools from Alabama to the eastern Florida Panhandle called off football games scheduled for Friday night, and officials in Panama City tried to assure residents that the storm wouldn’t be a repeat of Category 5 Hurricane Michael last year.

DEVON RAVINE/NORTHWEST FLORIDA DAILY NEWS VIA AP A group of people watch as a pigeons spooked by a dog take flight on the beach at Okaloosa Island near Fort Walton Beach, Fla., on Friday, Oct. 18. With Tropical Storm Nestor brewing in the Gulf of Mexico, curious onlookers in this Florida panhandle community came out to see the effects of the storm as it approached.