Flooded Roads Expected From Tropical Storm Colin; Oil Platforms in Gulf OK
GOES Project Science/NASA/Via ReutersFlorida Gov. Rick Scott has declared a state of emergency as Tropical Storm Colin bears down on the state’s west coast, where it was expected to strike June 6 before crossing into the Atlantic to menace Georgia and South Carolina.
As much as 6 inches of rain has fallen across northern Florida, and “flash flooding is expected to begin shortly,” according to the National Weather Service in Tallahassee. Some areas could get as much as 8 inches and evacuations are possible. Flood and flash flood warnings extend to North Carolina.
The storm is forecast to strike near Florida’s Big Bend region, the marshy coast that extends from Indian Pass to Englewood, later June 6, the National Hurricane Center in Miami said in an advisory at 1 p.m. EDT. Gulf of Mexico oil and natural-gas platforms off the coasts of Louisiana and Texas are out of the storm’s path. Orange juice futures jumped to the highest in more than two years as Colin is expected to reduce the Florida crop.
“Due to the displacement of the strong winds and heavy rainfall from the center of Colin, it is important to not focus on the exact forecast track,” Daniel Brown, a senior hurricane specialist at the hurricane center in Miami, wrote in the 11 a.m. forecast. “Heavy rainfall, strong winds and coastal flooding will begin affecting portions of the Florida Peninsula this afternoon well in advance of the center’s nearing the coast.”
Areas along Florida’s west coast already are getting heavy rain and high winds, said Brian Wimer, a meteorologist with AccuWeather Inc. in State College, Pennsylvania.
Scott declared a state of emergency across the Central and Northern part of the state. Franklin County told residents in low-lying areas and in mobile homes they should leave before the storm arrives.
Tropical storm warnings also were issued on the east coast from South Santee River in South Carolina to Sebastian Inlet in Florida. Colin, with top winds of 50 mph, was 245 miles west of Tampa, the hurricane center said.
Colin is the third named storm of 2016 and the second in about a week, heralding an early start to the Atlantic hurricane season, which began June 1. Hurricane Alex, the first storm of the year, formed in the mid-Atlantic in January. A storm gets a name when its winds reach tropical-storm strength of 39 mph.
