The first of three tropical systems currently being monitoring in the Atlantic basin came ashore in the Florida Panhandle about 3:15 p.m. Monday.
The National Hurricane Center said Tropical Storm Fred had maximum sustained winds near 65 mph when it made landfall near Cape San Blas -- between Mexico Beach and Apalachicola.
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Fred, which fell apart into remnants Saturday morning, reformed as a tropical storm Sunday as it moved toward the Florida Panhandle. The second system is Tropical Storm Grace. The third will likely become Tropical Storm Henri today.
A Storm Surge Warning was in effect for the Florida coast from Indian Pass to Yankeetown. A Tropical Storm Warning is in effect from the Florida Panhandle and Big Bend from Navarre to the Steinhatchee River.
TRACKING THE TROPICS: Interactive map of 3 tropical systems
The National Hurricane Center said Fred’s main threats are rainfall and storm surge. Forecasters expected Fred to sustain 4 to 8 inches from Alabama across Florida’s Big Bend and Panhandle, and even a foot of rain in isolated spots, while the surge could push seawater of between 3 to 5 feet onto the coast between Florida’s Indian Pass and the Steinhatchee River.
Forecasters warned that Fred also could dump heavy rain across a swath of the southeastern U.S. and into the mid-Atlantic states, with flash floods as some rivers overflow and even landslides along the Blue Ridge mountains on Tuesday.
Along Panama City Beach in Florida’s Panhandle, lifeguards have hoisted double-red flags, warning beachgoers against going into the Gulf of Mexico. The area braced for rain and some wind from the storm, and while no evacuations were ordered, schools and government offices were closed on Monday.
On the Alabama coast, the city of Orange Beach offered sand and bags to residents worried about flooding. A half-dozen school systems shut down Monday in southeast Alabama, where as much as 6 inches of rain was possible, and a large church opened as a shelter.
“We’ve certainly been in a lot worse than this, but that’s no reason to be complacent,” said Florida’s Bay County Sheriff Tommy Ford. “The less people out on the road, the better. We do expect some heavy rain from this storm.”
Fred became a tropical storm last Tuesday but weakened to a depression as it spun over Haiti and the Dominican Republic, where it knocked out power to some 400,000 customers and caused flooding. It re-strengthened into a tropical storm on Sunday as it moved over the warm waters in the Gulf of Mexico.