Florida on Emergency Alert as Hurricane Gordon Nears

A storm beginning to pound Florida’s Gulf Coast reached hurricane strength Saturday after deluging western Cuba with up to 10 inches of rain early in the day.

Florida Gov. Jeb Bush activated emergency response teams as rains pushed by Hurricane Gordon moved onshore.

Storm watches and warnings were posted along the Gulf Coast, and several counties recommended voluntary evacuations of barrier islands and coastal or low-lying areas. Up to 5 inches of rain was possible by today in the Keys and across much of southern and central Florida, officials said.

By Saturday afternoon, Gordon was about 290 miles southwest of Tampa with sustained winds of 75 mph and gusts up to 90 mph. The minimum for a storm to be called a hurricane is 74 mph.

State officials said Gordon could strike anywhere between Fort Myers and the Panhandle sometime late Sunday as a Category 1 hurricane, with sustained winds of 74 to 95 mph.

The National Hurricane Center posted a warning for a 210-mile stretch from Bonita Beach, just south of Fort Myers, to the Suwanee River, about 100 miles north of Tampa. A hurricane watch was issued for a 400-mile stretch from Bonita Beach to the Panhandle town of Apalachicola.

Showers were moving across the state during the afternoon.

Disaster officials in Hernando, Manatee and Pinellas counties told residents they should start packing and that shelters would be opened late Saturday.

In addition to Gordon’s heavy rain Saturday in Cuba, the storm caused street flooding in the resort city of Cancun on Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula on Friday.

In the central Atlantic, meanwhile, Hurricane Florence dashed past Bermuda, giving the island nation only a glancing blow.

There was no damage or flooding, said James Buxton, meteorologist with the Bermuda Weather Service.

At noon EDT, Florence was 180 miles north-northeast of Bermuda and was moving toward the northeast at 25 mph. Near its center, it still packed hurricane-force wind of about 75 mph, forecasters said.