Florida beaches empty as storm Alberto nears

Travis Lee loads filled sand bags onto a truck bed as he and a co-worker prepare to protect the storage company they work at, Saturday, May 26, 2018 in Gulfport, Miss. They and many other Gulf Coast residents are preparing for Subtropical Storm Alberto to make its way through the Gulf of Mexico to land. The slow moving storm is threatening to bring heavy rainfall, storm surges, high wind and flash flooding this holiday weekend. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)
Travis Lee loads filled sand bags onto a truck bed as he and a co-worker prepare to protect the storage company they work at, Saturday, May 26, 2018 in Gulfport, Miss. They and many other Gulf Coast residents are preparing for Subtropical Storm Alberto to make its way through the Gulf of Mexico to land. The slow moving storm is threatening to bring heavy rainfall, storm surges, high wind and flash flooding this holiday weekend. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- The first named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, Subtropical Storm Alberto, gained strength as it approached the northern Gulf Coast, emptying out beaches in Florida ahead of Memorial Day.

The storm disrupted plans from Pensacola in the panhandle to Miami Beach on Florida's southeastern edge. Lifeguards posted red flags along the white sands of Pensacola Beach, where swimming and wading were banned because of high surf and dangerous conditions.

The first named storm of the 2018 hurricane season that starts Friday prompted Florida, Alabama and Mississippi to launch emergency preparations Saturday. Rough conditions were expected to roil the seas off the eastern and northern Gulf Coast region through Tuesday.

"These swells are likely to cause life-threatening surf and rip current conditions," the National Hurricane Center in Miami said in a statement.

In Miami, organizers called off the sea portion of the Miami Beach Air & Sea Show on Sunday because of heavy rain and rough waters. And in the Tampa Bay area on the central Gulf Coast, cities offered sandbags for homeowners worried about floods.

Mandatory evacuations were ordered for small barrier islands in one northern Florida county, and voluntary evacuations were issued for another.

The Florida Division of Emergency Management said in a news release Sunday that a mandatory evacuation has been issued in Franklin County for all barrier islands and for anyone living directly on the coastline, in mobile homes and in RV parks.

In Taylor County, there were voluntary evacuations for those in coastal zones and beach communities, mobile homes, RV parks and low-lying areas.

In Gulf County, T. H. Stone Memorial St. Joseph Peninsula State Park began evacuations Sunday morning.

Gusty showers began lashing parts of Florida on Sunday, and authorities were warning of the possibility of flash flooding.

The hurricane center said Sunday that a tropical storm warning was in effect from Bonita Beach, Fla., to the Mississippi-Alabama border. Later, it cancelled storm surge warnings for most of the Florida peninsula, saying the Panhandle remained the focus of concern.

In Gulf Shores, Ala., webcams showed beaches beginning to fill up as the storm's track shifted slightly east away from the region, but red flags on the beach warned beach-goers to stay out of the rough water. Grant Brown, the city's public information officer, said they had already finished a number of preparations such as clearing culverts to prepare for big rains but Sunday had turned into a "really nice day."

With conditions expected to worsen overnight, officials were encouraging people planning to check out today to give themselves extra time.

Jeffrey Medlin, meteorologist in charge at the National Weather Service's Mobile office, warned that even after the storm moves north there will still be swells coming up from the south that could cause dangerous rip currents. Just because it's "nice and sunny" after the storm passes, Medlin says, there's still a risk for swimmers.

"People have drowned by going out to the water too soon," he said.

The weather service said waves as high as 18 feet could pound the popular Gulf beaches in Baldwin County, Ala., and northwestern Florida today. A high surf warning was in effect through 7 p.m. Tuesday local time.

Forecasters also warned that the storm could drop 2 inches of rain in South Carolina, up to 4 inches in isolated areas, and cause flooding. They issued a flood watch Sunday evening for the northern two-thirds of the state.

At 10 p.m. Sunday, Alberto was centered about 205 miles west of Tampa and had top sustained winds of 65 mph -- up from 50 mph earlier. Forecasters said Alberto has most recently taken a northwest track that would bring it over the northern Gulf of Mexico during the night and make landfall on or in the vicinity of the Florida panhandle today.

A subtropical storm like Alberto has a less defined and cooler center than a tropical storm, and its strongest winds are found farther from its center. Subtropical storms can develop into tropical storms, which in turn can strengthen into hurricanes.

Tracey Gasper and her 6-year-old son, Chase, traveled to Biloxi Beach from Donaldsonville, La., for a day of fun in the sun with a group of friends from Baton Rouge. The weather had scared off the usual crowds expected for the holiday weekend.

"It was a 50-50 chance of whether to come down, and we decided to chance it," Gasper said.

A Section on 05/28/2018

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