Tropical storm warning for parts of Florida, Cuba, Bahamas
Tropical storm warnings were issued Friday for much of the Florida peninsula, Cuba and the Bahamas as a system that battered Mexico moves through the Gulf of Mexico, killing at least two in Cuba and bringing threats of heavy rain and wind for the weekend.
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.
A Friday evening advisory from the hurricane center said the storm had maximum sustained winds of 40 mph (65 kph), just above the tropical storm threshold but it remained labled “potential tropical cyclone one” because it had few other characteristics that define such storms.
Around 11 p.m., forecasters said the system was about 185 miles (295 kilometers) southwest of Fort Myers, Florida, moving at about 12 mph (19 kph).
A Hurricane Center advisory said the system was expected to develop “a well-defined center and become a tropical storm” as it approaches Florida on Friday night and into Saturday.
In Cuba, heavy downpours brought by the system caused landslides and accidents that left two people dead in the capital, Havana, state media reported. A person was also reported missing in Pinar del Río province after falling into a rain-swollen river. The country’s Civil Defense organization said the main damages so far were to homes and the electricity system. The State electricity company said 50,000 clients were without power.
0 Comment