Get out plea as storm sweeps into Florida
Residents in low-lying areas along more than 100 miles of Florida’s Gulf Coast have been told to get out as the first named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season unexpectedly gained strength.
Locals had expected Tropical Storm Alberto to b an easy start to the season, but forecasters warned today that it could become a hurricane before hitting land as expected tomorrow morning, and might flood some areas with a storm surge of up to 10ft.
Florida Governor Jeb Bush said there were mandatory evacuation orders areas in Wakulla, Taylor, Citrus, Dixie and Levy counties, and further evacuations were possible as the storm drew nearer.
“If you are orderedto evacuate, you really should do it,” Mr Bush said in his declaration of emergency for the state.
He told the emergency response team monitoring the storm in Tallahassee: “This potentially could be a hurricane, it has a potential wide impact for a lot of people in our state.”
By this afternoon Alberto’s top sustained winds were blowing at 70mph, just 4mph shy of hurricane strength and up from 50mph in the morning.
Rain was already falling in Florida and two tornados were spotted.
