Tropical Storm Eta was bringing heavy rainfall to parts of Cuba, the Bahamas and southern Florida on Monday afternoon after crossing over the Florida Keys.
The storm made landfall in Lower Matecumbe Key late Sunday with maximum sustained winds of 65 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center.
Eta has since weakened to 50 mph winds and moved out into the Gulf of Mexico, but it still could cause possible flash flooding across urban areas of southeast Florida.
The storm is expected to make a sharp turn to the north by late Tuesday and could strengthen to a strong tropical storm as it drifts over the eastern Gulf of Mexico, the NHC said.
Although Eta could bring an additional 1 to 3 inches of rainfall to already-soaked south Florida, as well as Florida’s west coast, “there are increasing indications that the storm will weaken over the Gulf of Mexico late this week without bringing significant impacts,” said CNN meteorologist Taylor Ward.
Though the center of the storm is off the coast, its winds and rains extend outward. A wind gust of 43 mph was reported in Homestead, Florida, the NHC said. Ahead of the storm, many schools in south Florida were closed and bridges were locked down in anticipation of high winds.
Many south Floridians awoke to flooded streets, some with knee-high water, CNN affiliate WFOR reported. That led to abandoned and stranded cars and some toppled trees.
“I’ve lived here since 1975. I’ve seen every storm, this was heavy rain compared to the others,” Fort Lauderdale resident William Maitland told WFOR.
As of Monday evening, almost 13,000 customers were without power in the state, according to Poweroutage.us. The good news was that all warnings and watches in the US had expired by late afternoon.
Heavy rain and winds will stretch from Miami to Naples through Tuesday.
Flooding is also expected along low-lying roads and properties across the region as heavy rains are forecast, with some areas seeing as much as 18 inches throughout the duration of the storm.
Eta may cause swells on the Cuba’s north coast, the northwestern Bahamas, southern Florida and the Florida Keys in coming days which “are likely to cause life-threatening surf and rip current conditions,” the hurricane center said.
At least five school districts in south Florida, including Miami-Dade, were closed Monday due to Eta’s potential impact, the districts announced on social media.
In Miami-Dade, all bridges were locked down Sunday, according to Mayor Carlos Gimenez. He said the area anticipated 40 to 60 mph winds through Monday afternoon, as well as the possibility of tornadoes.
Pet-friendly shelters were opened in Monroe County — home to the Florida Keys — ahead of the storm, according to a tweet from the county, with Covid-19 protective protocols being strictly enforced.
Collier County suspended all Collier Area Transit (CAT) bus service Monday due to predicted high winds, the county said on twitter.
In Oakland Park, heavy rains and flooding has the city’s public works system “at or near capacity” already, according to Oakland Park public information officer David Rafter.
“Oakland Park Public Works and Parks personnel have been working throughout the night and all day addressing the flooding concerns to the best of our ability,” Rafter said in a Tropical Storm Eta update.
Mariners are being warned to stay off the water as extremely strong winds can cause hazardous waves that would “likely capsize or damage vessels,” according to the NWS.
Eta has made landfall at least twice before, in Cuba on Sunday morning and as a Category 4 hurricane in Central America last week, which is still reeling from its aftermath.
Emergency disaster plans are in place in Cuba and Mexico, and relief efforts continue in Guatemala and Honduras, which have been the hardest hit so far.
In Honduras, 38 people have died, eight people remain missing and more than 60,000 have been evacuated from their homes, according to the country’s Permanent Contingency Commission.
Guatemala’s National Disaster Reduction Coordinator (CONRED) reported Saturday that 116 people remain missing, mostly due to the landslide in the remote village of Quejá, in the central Alta Verapaz region.
At least 8,938 people have been evacuated and 5,780 remain in temporary shelters, the agency said.
Eta is the 28th named storm of the 2020 hurricane season, tying the record for the number of named storms in a single season set back in 2005.
Although the season has been extremely active, Eta is the first named storm to make landfall this year in Florida and the 12th named storm to make landfall in the continental US this season, the most in one year.
CNN’s Theresa Waldrop, Eric Levenson and Jamiel Lynch contributed to this report.
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