Fay hangs around, stays strong
Florida fears effects of the 'boomerang storm'
The storm first hit the Florida Keys, veered out to sea and then traversed east across the state on a path that would curve it toward to the Florida-Georgia border. The failure of Fay to weaken meant a whole new swath of the state had to prepare for a worse storm and meant Florida could wind up getting hit three separate times.
"This storm is going to be with us for a while. That's obvious now. It looks like it could be a boomerang storm," Gov. Charlie Crist said at a news conference.
Earlier in the day, it had appeared that Fay would simply peter out and perhaps bring nothing but heavy rains to the southeastern United States. But by late Tuesday, a hurricane watch was posted for parts of north Florida and Georgia as Fay seemed to be resurrected by the flat, swampy Everglades, increasing the chances it could still end up strengthening into a hurricane. Its top sustained winds increased for several hours during the day and were 60 mph late Tuesday — same as when it made landfall. A hurricane has winds of at least 74 mph.
The storm was also expected weaken some before it moves over the Atlantic Ocean, where it will likely get another dose of energy Wednesday.
Eric Blake, a specialist at the National Hurricane Center, urged people not to focus too much on whether Fay was a tropical storm or a hurricane, because either one can cause damage. Fay had fallen short of predictions that it could be a Category 1 hurricane when it came ashore in southwest Florida Tuesday morning.
"A strong tropical storm can be very significant," he said, pointing to wind damage in the state's interior and the possibility of flooding from up to 15 inches expected in parts of central Florida.
Fay formed over the weekend in the Atlantic and was blamed for 14 deaths in the Caribbean before hitting Florida.
Though it flooded streets in Naples, downed trees and plunged some 95,000 homes and businesses in the dark, most Floridians thought they had dodged a bullet. The worst of the storm's wrath appeared to be 51 homes hit by a tornado in Brevard County, southeast of Orlando. Nine of the homes were totaled, said Brevard County Emergency Operations Center spokesman David Waters.
Two injuries were reported in the Brevard County tornado, and a kitesurfer who was caught in a gust of wind Monday was critically injured when he slammed into a building in front of the beach near Fort Lauderdale. Kevin Kearney, 28, was still in critical condition Tuesday, Broward General Medical Center officials and his family said.
Recent comments
This is good. They need the rain and the water. This is very good.
this is | Aug. 20, 2008 at 7:02 a.m.
