{"id":55104,"date":"2022-09-26T12:01:43","date_gmt":"2022-09-26T16:01:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/?p=55104"},"modified":"2022-09-26T12:01:49","modified_gmt":"2022-09-26T16:01:49","slug":"tampa-bay-region-5-10-foot-storm-surge-fl-will-feel-effect-tuesday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/2022\/09\/tampa-bay-region-5-10-foot-storm-surge-fl-will-feel-effect-tuesday\/","title":{"rendered":"Tampa Bay region 5-10 Foot Storm Surge FL Will Feel Effect Tuesday"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

As Hurricane Ian approaches Cuba before entering the Gulf of Mexico and making its way to the Sunshine State, some Floridians could start feeling the effects of the storm as early as Tuesday night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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State and local officials are worried about up to a foot of rain falling in some areas, and a storm surge of 5 to 10 feet in Tampa Bay. Because of that, a mandatory evacuation has been issued for a part of Hillsborough County already, Tampa Mayor Jane Castor told CNN.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are asking everyone to make those plans to leave from zone A, which is basically all the waterfront. The storm surge is really the concern here,” Castor said. “Mother Nature always wins and this storm is going to be a very impactful storm. This is nothing to mess around with, if you can leave, just leave now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those preparing for the Ian’s arrival can check whether their home is in an evacuation zone at floridadisaster.org\/planprepare<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tropical storm conditions will impact West Central Florida starting late Tuesday, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration\u2019s National Hurricane Center<\/a>\u2019s 11 a.m. update on Ian.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hurricane-force winds will be possible in the hurricane watch area \u2014 which consists of most of the Tampa Bay area \u2014 starting Wednesday morning, the agency said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Heavy rain is expected to fall across the Florida Keys and South Florida starting Tuesday and should spread to central and northern Florida Wednesday and Thursday, NHC said. These rains could cause flash, urban and small stream flooding, while prolonged river flooding is likely across central Florida.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ian, currently a Category 1 storm, is about 100 miles west of Grand Cayman Island and 240 miles southeast of western Cuba, as of Monday at 11 a.m. and had sustained winds of up to 80 mph as it moves northwest, according to AccuWeather<\/a>. Hurricane-force winds extended up to 25 miles from the storm\u2019s center, while tropical-storm-force winds extended outward up to 115 miles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The storm could intensify into a Category 4 hurricane before hitting Florida later this week, the AccuWeather forecast team added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“By Tuesday, Ian may be a dangerous major hurricane,” AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Adam Douty said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Days ahead of landfall in the Sunshine State, Gov. Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency for the entire state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The governor said tolls have been suspended in the Tampa Bay area, including the Sunshine Skyway and many other roads and bridges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He also activated the National Guard, including 5,000 Florida guardsman and 2,000 from Tennessee, North Carolina and Georgia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The storm has also caused NASA to postpone the Sept. 27 launch of the Artemis rocket until Oct. 2.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hurricane and storm surge watches were issued for Pinellas, Hillsborough, Manatee and Sarasota counties just after 5 a.m., according to the National Weather Service<\/a>. Storm surge watches are also in effect for coastal Collier, Lee, Charlotte and Monroe counties, as well as mainland Monroe County and far south Miami-Dade County.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Tampa Bay area can expect a water level rise of 6-10 feet, AccuWeather Hurricane Expert Dan Kottlowski said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tropical storm watches were also issued for other counties across the state, NWS said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additional watches in Florida will likely come later today, according to the NHC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DeSantis also told those stocking up on and hurricane supplies, \u201cThere\u2019s no need to panic buy.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ian is the ninth named storm of the 2022 Atlantic hurricane season, and seems likely to be the first storm to reach the U.S. this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The NHC\u2019s early Monday morning forecast shows Hurricane Ian passing or hitting the Tampa Bay area Thursday around 2 a.m., though the region could become feeling tropical-storm-force winds by Tuesday night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rapid strengthening of the storm is expected Monday as it approaches Cuba, with life-threatening storm surge and hurricane-force winds impacting the western portion of the island starting later today, the agency added. The storm is expected to bring heavy rainfall, increasing the likelihood of flash flooding and possible mudslides, in Cuba and Jamaica.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When it makes its way to Florida later this week, \u201cconsiderable flooding impacts\u201d are expected in the west central area of the state, NHC said. \u201cAdditional flash and urban flooding, and flooding on rivers across the Florida peninsula and parts of the Southeast cannot be ruled out for later this week.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ian is expected to be a major hurricane as it makes its way across the eastern Gulf of Mexico mid-week, bringing with it \u201ca risk of life-threatening storm surge, hurricane-force winds, and heavy rainfall along the west coast of Florida and the Florida Panhandle.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As Hurricane Ian approaches Cuba before entering the Gulf of Mexico and making its way to the Sunshine State, some Floridians could start feeling the effects of the storm as… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":55105,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32,459],"tags":[1682],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55104"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=55104"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55104\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":55106,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55104\/revisions\/55106"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/55105"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55104"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55104"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55104"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}