Tropical Storm Hermine may grow to hurricane strength before hitting Florida

A hurricane warning is in effect for the Big Bend area of Florida’s Gulf Coast.

The latest forecast Thursday morning had Hermine’s top sustained winds at about 60 miles per hour as it approached Florida’s upper Gulf coast.

The coast also could get storm-surge inundation as high as 5 to 8 feet from the Ochlockonee River to Keaton Beach.

Hermine was expected to blow ashore late Thursday or early Friday along the state’s Big Bend – the mostly rural and lightly populated corner where the Florida peninsula meets the Panhandle – then drop back down to a tropical storm and push into Georgia, the Carolinas and up the East Coast with the potential for drenching rain and deadly flooding.

Even with a tropical storm passing just inland from the coast, a strong onshore wind could lead to a minor storm surge late Friday.

The storm was located about 220 miles west of Tampa Thursday and moving north-northeast at 14 mph with maximum sustained winds of 65 mph. Despite the bravado, he said, “I’m anxious”.

Hurricane forecasters in Miami say the storm is expected to make landfall south of Tallahassee late Thursday or early Friday.

Flooding is expected across a wide swath of the Big Bend area, which has a mostly marshy coastline.

In South Carolina, Friday night high school football games in many areas were moved up to Thursday night because Hermine was expected to bring heavy rain on Friday.

Areas on the western side of the storm could see between 10 and 15 inches of rain while east of it rainfall totals could reach 20 inches, potentially leading to flash flooding. Residents and visitors are advised to take shelter as the storm passes.

If it maintains hurricane strength, it would be the state’s first hit from a hurricane since Wilma on October 24, 2005, a record storm-free streak of 3,965 days.

A tropical storm warning has been issued for Glynn County.

In North Carolina, Gov.

The Tallahassee Democrat (http://on.tdo.com/2c2jFxe) reports emergency management officials in Franklin County have issued a mandatory evacuation notice for people living on St. George Island, Dog Island, Alligator Point and Bald Point. Typically flood-prone areas, low lying areas, retention ponds, and small creeks and streams would be most likely areas of flooding. On the East Coast, a tropical storm warning has been issued for an area that extends from Marineland, Florida, northward to the South Santee River in SC.

The system also poses a risk of tornadoes near the central Florida coast, according to the NHC.