Eta remains a tropical storm as Florida prepares for second hit
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Eta remained a tropical storm Wednesday afternoon as it was poised to skirt past the heavily populated Tampa Bay region in Florida and crash ashore somewhere to the north along the Gulf of Mexico coast.
The storm’s maximum sustained winds remained at about 70 mph off Florida’s west coast as the storm moved northward, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami. Additional weakening was possible as Eta approaches the coast.
Eta had briefly attained hurricane strength Wednesday morning but then weakened.
The storm has been in the Gulf of Mexico since crossing over South Florida on Sunday. At 7 p.m. Wednesday, Eta was located 45 miles west of St. Petersburg and was moving north at 12 mph, the hurricane center reported.
The Tampa Bay region is home to more than 3.5 million people across five coastal counties. No mandatory evacuations were immediately ordered but authorities began opening shelters for anyone needing them. Noserious damage or flooding was immediately reported.
Florida Gov. Ron Desantis issued an expanded emergency declaration to include 13 counties along or near the Gulf Coast, adding them to South Florida counties. Desantis also asked for an early emergency order from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to free resources needed to tackle the storm. President Donald Trump granted the request Wednesday evening.
U.S. Sens. Marco Rubio and Rick Scott, who represent Florida, had sent a letter to Trump earlier Wednesday in support of Desantis’ request.
“The 2020 Atlantic hurricane season has been particularly challenging due to the number and severity of storms, as well as the unique difficulties presented by the COVID-19 pandemic,” the Republican senators wrote.
Forecasts call for more rain from the storm system over parts of already drenched South Florida.
“Never seen this, never, not this deep,” said Anthony Lyas, who has lived in his now-waterlogged Fort Lauderdale neighborhood since 1996. He described hearing water and debris slamming against his shuttered home overnight as the storm crossed Florida.
The storm first hit Nicaragua as a Category 4 hurricane and killed at least 120 people in Central America and Mexico, with scores more missing. It then moved into the Gulf of Mexico early Monday.
Eta hit land late Sunday as it blew over Lower Matecumbe, in the middle of the chain of small islands that form the Keys, but the heavily populated areas of Miami-dade and Broward Counties bore the brunt of the fury.
It was the 28th named storm of a busy Atlantic hurricane season, tying the 2005 record for named storms. And late Monday, it was followed by the 29th storm— Theta, southwest of the Azores.