Hurricane Hermine to put an exclamation point on summer!
Top News Today –
Hurricane Hermine
To Shut Down Summer
It’s Labor Day weekend and the unofficial end of summer. Â However, instead of barbecues and beaches, much of the country is preparing for a severe and deadly weather system: Hurricane Hermine.
Top News Today
In what could be the first hurricane to hit land in Florida in more than a decade, Hermine is currently revving up in the Gulf of Mexico and headed toward a direct hit with the Sunshine State’s Panhandle region as early as today. What’s worse is that Hurricane Hermine is also expected to head directly up the Atlantic seaboard of the United States and impact as far north as New York.
Gov. Rick Scott of Florida warned residents that Hurricane Hermine will be life-threatening, with ocean surges expected to be as high as 9 feet above normal levels. He also declared a state of emergency and ordered immediate and mandatory evacuations of residents and visitors.
Hermine is already producing maximum sustained winds as high as 80 mph in Apalachicola, Tallahassee, St. Petersburg and surrounding cities.
“The center of Hermine should make landfall along the coast of Apalachee Bay during the next few hours, then move across the eastern Florida Panhandle into southeastern Georgia early Friday,” the National Hurricane Center said late Thursday night. “The center should then move near or over eastern South Carolina on Friday night and near or over eastern North Carolina on Saturday.”
Hermine became a Category 1 hurricane Thursday afternoon, with heavy rains that convinced authorities this “end of summer/Labor Day” storm was the real deal.
“These rains may cause life-threatening floods and flash floods. Heavy rain could reach the coastal Mid-Atlantic states from Virginia to New Jersey beginning early Saturday,” the National Hurricane Center said.
“This is life-threatening,” Gov. Scott told reporters in Tallahassee. “The storm surge, by itself, is life-threatening.”
If you are at all in the path of Hurricane Hermine, take this storm VERY SERIOUSLY! Massive flooding, widespread power failures and more are all possible. Â Stock up on bottled water. Make sure you have several flashlights with working batteries. Purchase candles for extended light if need be.
Forget about summer, forget about the holiday weekend, and concentrate on safety!
