Fay floods areas of Florida, picks up strength over land
NAPLES, Fla. — Tropical Storm Fay rolled ashore Tuesday in southwestern Florida without much fanfare but stubbornly hung around, gaining power and threatening — once again — to become a hurricane.
The storm first hit the Florida Keys, veered out to sea and then moved east across the state on a path toward the Florida- Georgia border.
“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.
Earlier in the day, it had appeared that Fay would simply peter out and perhaps bring nothing but heavy rain 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 as its top sustained winds increased to 65 mph, raising the chances it could end up strengthening into a hurricane with winds of at least 74 mph.
Forecasters expected the storm to get a dose of energy Wednesday when it moves over the Atlantic Ocean, where it could reach hurricane strength.
At 11 p. m. EDT, the center of the storm was about 30 miles south-southwest of Melbourne, and forecasters expected it to head north-northeast at about 5 mph overnight.
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, brought down trees and plunged 95,000 homes and businesses into darkness, most Floridians thought they had dodged a bullet. The worst of the storm’s wrath appeared to have been 51 homes hit by a tornado in Brevard County, southeast of Orlando. Nine of the homes were destroyed.
Two injuries were reported in the 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.
The storm’s surprising path came after Florida officials pulled out all the stops to get ready, prompting some grousing among state residents that they had overreacted to what was expected to be a minor storm. Crist declared a state of emergency two days before the storm even arrived, schools closed well in advance of the rain and 25,000 tourists in the Florida Keys were told to pack up and go home.
State officials defended the preparations Tuesday, and National Guard troops and storm supplies remained in reserve if needed.
National Weather Service meteorologist Doug Outlaw said it was not clear whether the storm would track north to the Carolinas or veer west over Tennessee.
Flooding remained a concern as Fay heads up the Florida peninsula, with rainfall amounts forecast between 5 inches and 15 inches. The storm could also push tides 1 foot to 3 feet above normal and spawn tornadoes. Counties in the storm’s path called off school for today and opened shelters.
