Tropical Storm Eta is gaining strength and likely to become a hurricane again by the time it reaches Florida late Sunday or Monday morning, forecasters said.
The U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami Sunday issued hurricane and storm surge warnings for the Florida Keys and southern tip of the state. Governor Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency Saturday, and officials closed beaches and ports, shut down public transit and urged everyone to stay home.
Eta had maximum sustained winds of 100 kilometers per hour at last report Sunday afternoon and moving north, northwest at 22 kilometers per hour over the Florida Straits, the hurricane center said.
When it came ashore Tuesday in Central America, Eta was a Category 4 storm on the Saffir-Simpson scale of hurricane intensity. The storm left hundreds dead or missing across the Central American countries of Honduras, Guatemala, as well as in Mexico, which is considered part of North America. In Guatemala, searchers were still looking for more than 100 missing in a landslide, one of many fueled by rain from Eta, in San Cristobal Verapaz.
Eta made landfall along the south-central coast of Cuba as a tropical storm Sunday, swelling rivers and causing floods along the coast, where 25,000 people had been evacuated. But there have been no reports of deaths.
A tropical storm warning, meanwhile, is also in effect for parts of the Bahamas, and sections of Florida’s coast and Keys.
