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Tropical Storm Emily Heads for Tampa Bay

Tropical Storm Emily could produce between 2 and 4 inches of rainfall through Monday night from Tampa Bay to Naples.

Florida (11)1
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(TNS) - The 2017 hurricane season's sixth named storm, Tropical Storm Emily, formed off the coast of Southwest Florida overnight and began heading east, expected to make landfall along the Gulf Coast by 2 p.m. this afternoon, forecasters said.

Tropical storm force winds could reach the Gulf Coast of Florida between 8 a.m. and 2 p.m. Monday, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Hurricane Center wind predictions. The storm's center was about 50 miles west/northwest of Sarasota at 8 a.m. and moving east at 8 mph, according to the hurricane center's forecasters. They said the storm will move offshore after crossing the state by Tuesday morning.

The center issued a tropical storm warning for the west coast of Florida, from the Anclote River in Pasco County south to Bonita Beach in Lee County. A tropical storm warning means that the storm conditions are imminent.

Flood warnings have been issued by the National Weather Service for Little Manatee River, Manatee River, Myakka River and Horse Creek.

Data from NOAA's Doppler radar from Tampa indicate that maximum sustained winds have reached nearly 45 mph and will likely not exceed that. Forecasters say the storm will weaken to a depression as it moves across the state today.

Tropical Storm Emily could produce between 2 and 4 inches of rainfall through Monday night from Tampa Bay to Naples, according to the NHC's forecast, but isolated amounts of up to 8 inches are possible.

Tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 60 miles from the center.

The Sarasota-Bradenton area can expect between 3 to 5 inches of rain with winds between 25 and 35 mph, according to National Weather Service meteorologist Andrew McKaughan. The area will see the heaviest rain this morning and it should continue to lessen as the day continues. Since midnight Sunday, about 2 inches had fallen.

"This appears to be the worst of it now," McKaughan said.

Pinellas, Hillsborough, Manatee and Sarasota counties should expect to see the heaviest rains and strongest winds from the tropical storm conditions, he added.

On Monday around 9:15 a.m., Manatee County residents started reporting flooding from Tropical Storm Emily in Cortez, particularly on 117th St. W. in the Sunny Shores neighborhood just off Palma Sola Bay.

Reports indicate that 9th Street West between 21st Avenue and 26th Avenue in Bradenton are closed due to severe flooding.

Another reader noted that "Holmes Beach is getting flooded now. Tough ride to work."

The City of Venice has closed the walkway to the South Jetty at 2000 Tarpon center Drive due to water washing across the jetty.

"The conditions aren't high enough to cause widespread flooding issues, but you might have some street flooding," McKaughan said. "People just need to be safe when they're driving--don't try to drive into a road that's flooded, find an alternate route to get where you need to go."

The City of North Port anticipates effects no worse than afternoon thunderstorms, as Emily moves through the region, according to a statement from city Emergency Manager Rich Berman.

Berman said forecasters anticipate upwards of three inches of rain today and lesser amounts over the next couple of days.

At 9 a.m., the Myakkahatchee Creek at Tropicaire was at 18.61 feet and quickly rising. Its headwaters at State Road 72 are 25.99 feet and quickly rising as well. Water-covered streets in traditionally poor drainage areas is likely.

All Sarasota County athletic fields are closed Monday because of the storm, according to Sarasota County's Twitter account.

Wade Tatangelo, Earle Kimel and Carlos Munoz contributed to this story.

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©2017 Sarasota Herald-Tribune, Fla.

Visit Sarasota Herald-Tribune, Fla. at www.heraldtribune.com
 

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