Alberto hits Gulf Coast, dampens holiday plans
Forecasts of heavy rain, flooding, dangerous surf
Forecasters downgraded Alberto to a subtropical depression late Monday, but said a flood threat persisted as the huge system continued to dump heavy rains.
The National Hurricane Center in Miami said Alberto, formerly a subtropical storm, weakened Monday evening just hours after making landfall in the Florida Panhandle.
As of 11 p.m. EDT, Alberto was about 50 miles west-northwest of Dothan, Alabama.
Its top sustained winds were down to about 35 mph.
Forecasters said the center of the depression was moving to the north at a speead of about 12 mph. It was expected to pick up speed and move over Alabama later in the night and early Tuesday as it spreads storms around the South.
Between four and eight inches of rain could soak the Florida Panhandle, Alabama, and western Georgia before the storm moves on. Isolated deluges of 12 inches also are possible.
Forecasters said Alberto could then become a subtropical depression during the night before spreading rains Tuesday over the Tennessee Valley and later in the week around the Ohio Valley and Great Lakes region.
Meanwhile, potentially life-threatening rough surf and rip currents continued on the northern Gulf Coast after Alberto rolled up big waves and tides along the coast.
Lifeguards posted red flags along the white sands of Pensacola Beach, where swimming and wading were banned as Alberto disrupted long holiday weekend plans for millions.
The storm forced some Memorial Day tributes to be canceled across Florida’s Panhandle.
Safety was the priority, but the decision was still a “heartbreaker,” said Tom Rice, a 29-year-old Army veteran who leads the organizations that had planned a ceremony Monday at Beal Memorial Cemetery in Fort Walton Beach.
Some stragglers still made their way through the rain to pay tribute at the cemetery’s Veterans Tribute Tower, however. Rice said American flags had been placed Saturday on the graves of all 1,700 veterans buried in the cemetery.
“We got the flags out,” Rice told the Northwest Florida Daily News as wind whipped a massive U.S. flag flying at half-staff. “That’s what’s important.”
Along the Florida Panhandle, tourists vowed Alberto wouldn’t dampen their vacations.
Jason Powell sought to keep his children entertained with movies and TV until Alberto blows past his pristine Florida vacation spot.
“So far we’ve seen a lot of wind and the ocean is really high, covering up the entire beach,” Powell said.
Elsewhere, Florida’s Division of Emergency Management said, about 2,600 customers were without power for a time in northwestern Florida on Monday.