CEDAR KEY, Fla. — After making landfall as a hurricane in Florida’s Big Bend area early Friday, Hermine weakened to a tropical storm as it moved farther inland.
The Category 1 storm hit just east of St. Marks around 1:30 a.m. EDT with winds around 80 mph, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center.
Projected storm surges of up to 12 feet menaced a wide swath of the coast and an expected drenching of up to 10 inches of rain carried the danger of flooding along the storm’s path over land, including the state capital Tallahassee, which hadn’t been hit by a hurricane since Kate in 1985.
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As of 2 a.m. EDT Friday, Hermine was centered about 35 miles southeast of Tallahassee, Florida, and was moving north-northeast near 14 mph. The storm was expected to drop back down to a tropical storm before pushing into Georgia, the Carolinas and up the East Coast with the potential for heavy rain and deadly flooding.
The last hurricane to strike Florida was Wilma, a powerful Category 3 storm that arrived on Oct. 24, 2005. It swept across the Everglades and struck heavily populated south Florida, causing five deaths in the state and an estimated $23 billion in damage.
Many took no chances with Hermine.
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Cormac Worrall, 6, left, helps his father remove tree debris from their yard in Virginia Beach, Va, on Sunday, Sept. 4, 2016.
(Vicki Cronis-Nohe / AP)
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Marco Cardone put on dry socks and boots after wading through the flood waters on Sunday, Sept. 4, 2016 in the Ocean View section of Norfolk, Va.
(Vicki Cronis-Nohe / AP)
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People sit at the beach in Ocean City, N.J., on Sunday, Sept. 4, 2016.
(Viviana Pernot / AP)
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Alex Caro, center, of Virginia Beach looks over the name “HERMINE” he wrote in the sand at the beach at Cape Charles, Va. on Saturday, Sept. 3, 2016.
(Jay Diem / AP)
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Stevie Green rides a bike on the flooded streets of downtown Manteo, N.C., Saturday, Sept. 3, 2016 as Tropical Storm Hermine passes the Outer Banks.
(Tom Copeland / AP)
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Pedestrians brave the wind rushing down Atlantic Ave. in Virginia Beach, Va., on Saturday, Sept. 3, 2016, as Tropical Storm Hermine approaches the region.
(Stephen M. Katz | The Virginian-Pilot / AP)
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Water from Roanoke Sound pounds the Virginia Dare Trail in Manteo, N.C., Saturday, Sept. 3, 2016 as Tropical Storm Hermine passes the Outer Banks. Hermine lost hurricane strength over land but was intensifying Saturday along the Atlantic Coast, threatening heavy rain, wind and storm surges on its northward march.
(Tom Copeland / AP)
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A unidentified man watches the rising water from his home in Hatteras, N.C., Saturday, Sept. 3, 2016 after Tropical Storm Hermine passed the Outer Banks. The storm is expected to dump several inches of rain in parts of coastal Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey and New York as the Labor Day weekend continues.
(Tom Copeland / AP)
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Two trailers sit overturned in the creek behind the Hatteras Sands Campground in Hatteras, N.C., Saturday, Sept. 3, 2016 after Tropical Storm Hermine passed the Outer Banks. The storm is expected to dump several inches of rain in parts of coastal Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey and New York as the Labor Day weekend continues.
(Tom Copeland / AP)
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Residents look at Alligator Point road that collapsed during the storm surge from Hurricane Hermine at Alligator Point, Florida on Sept. 2, 2016.
(Mark Wallheiser / Getty Images)
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A woman walks past pleasure boats that were washed into Riverside Dr., when Hurricane Hermine came ashore early on Sept. 2, 2016, in Steinhatchee, Fla.
(Chris O’Meara / AP)
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Part of a sea wall that collapsed is seen after Hurricane Hermine passed through on Sept. 2, 2016, in Cedar Key, Fla.
(John Raoux / AP)
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Motorists drive by a boat that was tossed onto the road when winds from Hurricane Hermine came ashore early on Sept. 2, 2016, in Dekle Beach, Fla.
(Chris O’Meara / AP)
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Gus Soldatos, right, and his father Nick, unload lumber to make repairs on their building after Hurricane Hermine passed through, on Sept. 2, 2016, in Cedar Key, Fla.
(John Raoux / AP)
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People venture out onto the Jacksonville Beach Fishing Pier as waves crash against the pilings, on Sept. 2, 2016, in Fla.
(Bob Mack / AP)
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Tom Reams looks over a tree on top of his 15 year old daughter’s Volkswagen Beetle and house cause by the wind and storm surge from Hurricane Hermine at Alligator Point, Florida Sept. 2, 2016.
(Mark Wallheiser / Getty Images)
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Darby Lee looks into the damaged bedroom of his brother and sister in laws apartment that had a tree fall on the roof early Friday morning, Sept. 2, 2016 in Jacksonville, Fla. According to Lee, this was the room he was supposed to be sleeping in but he and his brother had stayed up late playing video games in another room when the tree snapped around 4 am and came down on the roof. The four unit apartment building on Boone Park Avenue was one of the handful of damaged properties reported as the last of the wind and rain band from Tropical Storm Hermine passed over the greater the area. (Bob Self/The Florida Times-Union via AP) (Bob Self / AP)
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Brothers Trey Bowers,10 and Tyler Bowers,12, are splached with salt water from a crashing wave from Tropical Storm Hermine, Friday, Sept. 2, 2016, in Charleston, S.C. (AP Photo/The Post and Courier, Grace Beahm) (Grace Beahm / AP)
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Nurse assistant Jennifer Smith rides out Hurricane Hermine inside a fire house doubling as a shelter for local residents as Hurricane Hermine makes landfall on Sept. 1, 2016, in Hosford, Fla.
(Curtis Compton/Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
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A news reporter doing a report near a sea wall in Cedar Key, Fla., is covered by an unexpected wave as Hurricane Hermine neared the Florida coast on Sept. 1, 2016.
(John Raoux / AP)
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Brian Mugrage watches the weather on TV inside the Riverside Cafe, which was flooded by the storm surge from Hurricane Hermine on Sept. 1, 2016 in Saint Marks, Fla.
(Mark Wallheiser / Getty Images)
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In this image made from a video, rough surf smashes against a dock as Hurricane Hermine neared the Florida coast on Sept. 1, 2016, in Carabelle, Fla.
(Joshua Replogle / AP)
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A boy and his dog walk through flooding from the storm surge from Hurricane Hermaine outside Cooter Stew Cafe on Sept. 1, 2016 in Saint Marks, Fla.
(Mark Wallheiser / Getty Images)
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The High Hazard warning flag flaps in the breeze Thursday, Sept. 1, 2016, on the dunes near the Jacksonville Beach, Fla., Fishing Pier ahead of the expected Gulf Coast landfall of Tropical Storm Hermine Thursday night.
(Bob Self / AP)
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A surfer gets into the tube while surfing the swell from Tropical Storm Hermine at St. Andrews State Park in Panama City Beach, Fla., on Thursday, Sept. 1, 2016. Residents and businesses along Florida’s Gulf coast put up shutters, nailed plywood across storefronts and braced Thursday for Tropical Storm Hermine, a system the governor called potentially “life-threatening” likely to become the first hurricane to strike the state in over a decade.
(Andrew Wardlow / AP)
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Tim Allen, left, and Joe Allen board up the front of an outdoor bar as they prepare for Tropical Storm Hermine Thursday, Sept. 1, 2016, in Cedar Key, Fla.
(John Raoux / AP)
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Ground water begins to flood some low lying areas as Tropical Storm Hermine heads inland Thursday, Sept. 1, 2016, in Dekle Beach, Fla. A hurricane warning was in effect for Florida’s Big Bend from the Suwannee River to Mexico Beach.
(John Raoux / AP)
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Jacksonville firefighters install storm shutters at Jacksonville Fire and Rescue’s Ladder Company Four in advance of Tropical Storm Hermine Thursday Sept. 1, 2106 in Jacksonville, Fla. Hermine strengthened into a hurricane Thursday and steamed toward Florida’s Gulf Coast, where people put up shutters, nailed plywood across store windows and braced for the first hurricane to hit the state in over a decade.
(Bruce Lipsky / AP)
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A resident of the Sandpiper Resort surveys the rising water coming from the Gulf of Mexico into his neighborhood as winds and storm surge associated with Tropical Storm Hermine impact the area on September 1, 2016 in Holmes Beach, Florida.
(Brian Blanco / Getty Images)
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Residents of the Sandpiper Resort survey the rising water coming from the Gulf of Mexico into their neighborhood as winds and storm surge associated with Tropical Storm Hermine impact the area on September 1, 2016 in Holmes Beach, Florida.
(Brian Blanco / Getty Images)
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A resident of the Sandpiper Resort surveys the rising water coming from the Gulf of Mexico into her neighborhood as winds and storm surge associated with Tropical Storm Hermine impact the area on September 1, 2016 in Holmes Beach, Florida.
(Brian Blanco / Getty Images)
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Tallahassee resident Tom Duffy, 70, said Thursday that he planned to reserve a hotel room for Friday night in the neighboring state of Alabama if downed trees caused the kind of power outages he expected. Even before the storm’s final approach to land, the city government tweeted that there were already some 32,000 outages reported around the capital city.
“We’ve dodged bullet after bullet after bullet,” Duffy said, but added that Hermine has taken “dead aim” at the city, where blustery winds sent trees swaying before dawn.
In Carrabelle, on the coast just 60 miles southwest of Tallahassee, Courtney Chason was keeping an eye on the storm surge as docks and boat houses were slowly being battered as the storm approached late Thursday.
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“I’ve never seen it this high, it’s pretty damn crazy. I’ve been in this area for 30 years but I’ve never seen it like this,” Chason said. “I hope it doesn’t get any higher, we need lots of prayers.”
Residents on some islands and other low-lying, flood-prone areas in Florida had been urged to clear out. Flooding was expected across a wide swath of the marshy coastline of the Big Bend — the mostly rural and lightly populated corner where the Florida peninsula meets the Panhandle.
Florida Gov. Rick Scott warned of the danger of strong storm surges, high winds, downed trees and power outages, and urged people to move to inland shelters if necessary and make sure they have enough food, water and medicine.
“You can rebuild a home, you can rebuild property, you cannot rebuild a life,” Scott said at a news conference Thursday afternoon, adding that “we are going to see a lot of flooding.”
Scott, who declared an emergency in 51 counties, said 6,000 National Guardsmen were poised to mobilize for the storm’s aftermath. The governors of Georgia and North Carolina also declared states of emergency.
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Across the Florida line in south Georgia, about a dozen people had already showed up by Thursday evening at a Red Cross shelter that opened at a city auditorium in Valdosta that’s normally used for banquets and gospel concerts.
Cynthia Arnold left her mobile home for the shelter with her brother and her 5-year-old grandson, adding “I’m not just going to sit there and be ignorant.”
Rains of 4 to 10 inches were possible along the coasts of Georgia and the Carolinas by Sunday. Lesser amounts were forecast farther up the Atlantic Coast, because the storm was expected to veer out to sea.
Associated Press
A dog wades through shallow water Wednesday ahead of Tropical Storm Hermine’s arrival at Shell Point Beach near Crawfordville, Fla.
