Hermine hits Florida coast as 1st hurricane in a decade

Source: Associated Press

Hermine hits Florida coast as 1st hurricane in a decade

By JOSH REPLOGLE and BRENDAN FARRINGTON

Sep. 2, 2016 2:06 AM EDT


CARRABELLE, Florida (AP) — Hurricane Hermine made landfall in Florida's Big Bend area early Friday as the first hurricane to hit the state in more than a decade.

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.

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.


Read more: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/ffecf1b7cd124a96817868710f1d80e3/hermine-hits-florida-coast-1st-hurricane-decade