Heavy rains and winds will stretch from Miami to Naples through Tuesday, and storms of up to four feet are likely in parts of southern Florida and the Keys. Flooding is also expected along low-lying roads and property across the region as torrential rain is expected – around three to five inches – with some areas seeing more than a foot for the duration of the storm this week.
ETA is expected to make landfall again north of Tampa on Friday as a tropical storm.
Schools are closing and shelters are open as the country prepares for ETA
Districts announced on social media the closure of at least five school districts in South Florida, including Miami-Dade, on Monday due to the potential impact of ETA.
In Miami-Dade, all bridges were closed on Sunday, according to Mayor Carlos Jimenez. He said that the region expects winds of between 40 and 60 miles per hour, starting from Sunday night until Monday afternoon, in addition to the possibility of hurricanes.
In Oakland Park, torrential downpours and floods have resulted in the city’s public works system “at or near full capacity,” according to Auckland Park Public Information Officer David Rafter.
“Oakland Park Public Works and Parks staff have been working all night and all day to address flood concerns to the best of our ability,” Rafter said in an update to Tropical Storm Eta.
Sailors have also been warned to stay out of the water because extremely strong winds can cause dangerous waves that “are likely to capsize or damage ships,” according to the NWS.
The third landing for ETA
There are contingency plans to cope with disasters in Cuba and Mexico, and relief efforts are continuing in Guatemala and Honduras, which were the most affected so far.
In Honduras, 38 people have died, eight are still missing and more than 60,000 have been evacuated from their homes, according to the country’s permanent emergency committee.
The National Coordinator for Disaster Reduction in Guatemala (CONRED) reported Saturday that 116 people are still missing, most of them due to a landslide in the remote village of Coija, in the central Alta Verapaz region.
At least 8,938 people have been evacuated, and 5,780 people remain in temporary shelters, the agency said.
Although the season has been very active, ETA is the first named storm to make landfall this year in Florida and the twelfth storm to make landfall in the continental United States this season, the largest in one year.
