C.J. Gish
Updated (7:45 a.m. Sept. 9): The National Hurricane Center (NHC) upgraded and named a Gulf storm late Wednesday and began advisories for Tropical Storm Mindy as it hit the Florida Panhandle.
With maximum winds of 40 miles per hour, the storm moved inland overnight. Trailing rain bands will continue throughout the North Central Florida region into Thursday with some heavy rainfall that could produce flooding, according to NHC.
The system will weaken as it moves northwest across Northeast Florida and South Georgia before it emerges over the southwest Atlantic on Thursday.
Our original story (Sept. 8):
Heavy rainfall from the disorganized area in the Gulf could produce up to 6-plus inches in some areas of Levy County through Friday morning.
Levy County Emergency Management (LCEM) released information Tuesday reporting that the majority of rain was expected to come Tuesday night through Friday morning.
“There’s no flood warnings in effect in Levy County right now,” said David Peaton, LCEM assistant director. “But areas that are already dealing with minor flooding should take early precautions to make sure their property is protected from additional rainfall.”
Peaton said the storm is projected to hit south and that, since the rivers are located in the north, that should help keep rivers from overflowing.
The National Hurricane Center reported the upper-level disturbance is expected to move northeastward over the Gulf of Mexico Wednesday and will approach the northern Gulf coast tonight or early Thursday, crossing into the southeastern states with heavy rainfall expected in the Florida Panhandle and southern Georgia.
North Central Florida has experienced flooding and oversaturated areas due to storms earlier this summer including Tropical Storm Elsa on June 7 and Tropical Depression Fred in mid August.
