As Tropical Storm Eta’s center made landfall in the Florida Keys late Sunday night, most of its worst impacts were being felt far to the north with far-reaching rain bands flooding streets and leaving tens of thousands without power.
The worst of it appeared to be in Broward County, where the National Weather Service issued a flash flood warning and a driver was hospitalized in critical condition after driving their vehicle into a flooded canal in Lauderhill. One Hollywood rain gauge caught more than 10 inches of rain and there were hours of storms still ahead.
Rescue crews made dozens of rescues of people stranded in their cars, and at least seven people were suddenly homeless after a tree fell on their duplex in Miami, according to reports.
Craig Setzer, a meteorologist at Miami Herald news partner CBS4, said that a primary feeder band would drench Broward and Miami-Dade for several hours without budging “meaning, widespread significant flooding will continue or increase.”
The National Weather Service also warned of an increased risk of isolated tornadoes throughout most of South Florida, “with an emphasis on Miami-Dade County.” Miami-Dade was also under a flash flood warning on Monday morning.
As of 4 a.m. Monday, the National Hurricane Center said Eta was 45 miles north-northwest of Key West and 65 miles south of Naples, with winds extending 310 miles from the center. Eta managed to hold onto its maximum sustained winds of 65 mph and was moving a little slower, northwest at about 13 mph.
The Keys appeared to catch a break, with forecasters backing off an earlier prediction that Eta could strengthen to a hurricane just before landfall at Lower Matecumbe Key, and the hurricane center canceled the storm surge watch covering most of Miami-Dade and the hurricane watch for Broward County. But Eta could still become a hurricane Tuesday morning, when the storm is well west of the Keys and in a warmer patch of the Gulf of Mexico.
Overall, despite the projected track wobbling south and north throughout the day as new models came in, the expected impacts for South Florida stayed nearly the same: rain, lots of it, along with tropical storm force winds and potentially a few feet of storm surge that could flood low-lying coastal areas.
Power outages were already starting to mount by Sunday evening. More than 50,000 Florida Power & Light customers were reported without power by 10 p.m. Sunday, with half of the outages in Broward County alone.
A station at Morningside Park in Miami registered 40 mph sustained winds with a 51 mph gust. The National Weather Service expects the winds will die down to the occasional gust early Monday afternoon, after peaking around 6 a.m.
In the Keys
Still, in Key West, which could see some of the strongest part of Eta, the approaching storm hadn’t scared off business on Duval Street. It looked like any other Sunday morning — a little slow but with open bars and shops.
The Green Parrot bar, on Whitehead Street, was open, along with Willie’ T’s on Duval. Several visitors weren’t worried about Eta.
“We’re actually leaving but I’m not concerned,” said David Galloway, of Orlando as he strolled down Duval. “I wouldn’t be concerned either way. It’s just a storm.”
In the Upper Keys — Key Largo, Tavernier and Islamorada — people were preparing late Sunday morning for Eta’s arrival, but the scene was calm. At marinas, boats were tied securely in anticipation rough water could knock vessels into each other and the docks. White caps on the normally calm Lake Surprise, located at the southern end of the 18 Mike Stretch of U.S. 1, splashed saltwater across the two-lane highway.
The two supermarket chains in the area — Winn Dixie in Tavernier and Publix in Islamorada — were busy with customers stocking up on essentials, especially bottled water.
Beth Reed, 49, was visiting the Keys with her family from Dayton, Ohio. They were originally supposed to vacation in the Cayman Islands for the week, but were prohibited because of that country’s COVID-19 rules.
“So, we just decided to come here instead,” Reed said as she loaded up her car with groceries at the Publix parking lot.
On the mainland, it was wait-and-see. At a noon press conference, Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez said the county and several cities have set up pumps to help lessen the flood damage, which appears to be the main threat in Miami-Dade. The county opened an emergency shelter on Saturday, and Monroe County and the Bahamas opened several on Sunday.
“We will be on top of it,” he said. “Everybody’s set to go. Hopefully, we can mitigate the flooding damage as much as possible.”
Looking ahead
Here is how Miami-Dade and Broward are preparing for Eta’s heavy storm rain, winds
Eta may not be done with Florida. Forecasters predict it could turn back toward Florida to menace the west coast as a tropical storm on Friday. “We could be dealing with this all week,” National Hurricane Center Director Ken Graham said in a video update.
Widespread South Florida power outages predicted over several days when Eta comes, FPL says
As of the Sunday afternoon update, the hurricane center rated the odds that Key West, Marathon, Homestead and Miami could see tropical-storm-force winds Monday morning in the high 80s and 90s. But the chances of sustained hurricane-force winds anywhere in South Florida dropped, with the highest chances around 10% in the Keys.
The National Weather Service said there’s about an 80% chance places like Miami and Fort Lauderdale could see between 6.5 and 9.5 inches of rain from Eta, and that’s in addition to the last several days of rain. In Homestead, that total is slightly lower at 4.5 to 8 inches.
That spells flooding for a region that’s already seen record rain totals in recent weeks. Molleda compared Eta flooding to the annual king tides, the highest high tides of the year. High tide was 3 a.m. Monday, when some of the storm’s strongest winds whipped South Florida.
Watches and warnings
As of 4 a.m. Monday, a storm surge warning and storm surge watch have been discontinued, and a hurricane warning for the Keys and Florida Bay have been replaced with a tropical storm warning. A hurricane watch for South Florida has been discontinued, and a tropical storm watch has been changed to a tropical storm warning for the Florida west coast from Englewood to Anna MariaIsland.
A tropical storm warning is in effect for:
▪ Northwestern Bahamas, including the Abacos, Andros Island, Berry Islands, Bimini, Eleuthera, Grand Bahama Island, and New Providence
▪ Florida coast from Brevard/Volusia County line to Anna MariaIsland* Florida Keys from Ocean Reef to the Dry Tortugas, including Florida Bay
▪ Lake Okeechobee
Guatemala searches, Eta regains storm status, heads to Cuba
Miami Herald staff writers Gwen Filosa, David Goodhue and Jacqueline Charles contributed to this report.