THANK YOU LORD FOR THE RAIN: Florida Government Declares State of Emergency as Erika Nears

Tropical Storm Erika at 11 a.m. Friday.

Updated 6 minutes ago

 

Florida Gov. Rick Scott has declared a state of emergency across all of Florida in preparation for Tropical Storm Erika.

Erika lashed Puerto Rico early Friday with heavy rains and wind after killing as many as 25 people and causing devastating floods in the eastern Caribbean island of Dominica.

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As of 11 a.m. on Friday, the NHC forecast Erika's track shifts west, possibly bringing a 60 mph tropical storm to Florida late Sunday night. Erika remains a disorganized tropical storm, not forecast to be a hurricane.

Officials in Miami-Dade and Broward were planning to hold news conferences Friday afternoon to discuss Erika.

Erika was located about 155 miles east-southeast of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, and was moving west near 17 mph, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami. The storm's maximum sustained winds were near 50 mph.

The storm was expected to dump up to 12 inches (31 centimeters) of rain across portions of the drought-stricken northern Caribbean as it carved a path toward the U.S. Forecasters said Erika might fall apart over Hispaniola or Puerto Rico or possibly strengthen into a hurricane as it nears South Florida early next week.

Authorities in Puerto Rico closed certain roads in anticipation of numerous landslides, while rescue crews fanned across Dominica overnight to search for missing and injured people.

"Erika has really, really visited us with a vengeance,'' Assistance Police Superintendent Claude Weekes said by phone. "There are many fallen rocks and trees, and water. It's really chaotic.''

Erika Moves Through Leeward Islands, Brings Flooding, Mudslides to Dominica

South Florida remains in the cone of Tropical Storm Erika at 5 p.m. Thursday as flooding and mudslides hit Dominica, killing at least four. (Published Thursday, Aug. 27, 2015)

 

In Dominica, local reports put the rising death toll at 25 Friday morning. The prime minister confirmed at least 12 deaths to NBC News on Twitter, but said the number could be higher. Authorities there had previously said an elderly blind man and two children died when a mudslide hit their home in the island's southeast region. Another man was found dead near his home in the capital of Roseau after a mudslide, but the cause of death could not be immediately determined.

Police in the lush and mountainous island of Dominica expected to reach isolated communities via the ocean because of impassable roads and bridges. The Barbados-based Caribbean Disaster and Emergency Management Agency also pledged assistance. Ronald Jackson, the agency's executive director, said in a phone interview that at least two helicopters would arrive early Friday in Dominica carrying supplies and two medics from Trinidad.

"The only way into Dominica at this time is via helicopter,'' he said.

Erika downed trees and power lines in Dominica as it unleashed heavy floods that swept cars down streets and ripped scaffolding off some buildings.

The storm is expected to move near or over the Dominican Republic on Friday as it heads toward the Turks and Caicos Islands and the Bahamas.

Tropical storm warnings were in effect for areas across the Caribbean including Puerto Rico, Vieques, Culebra, the U.S. and British Virgin Islands, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, the Bahamas, Turks and Caicos, St. Martin and St. Barthelemy.

Meanwhile in the Pacific, Ignacio strengthened into a hurricane. The storm's maximum sustained winds increased Thursday morning to 90 mph (150 kph).

Hurricane Ignacio was centered about 890 miles (1,430 kilometers) east-southeast of Hilo, Hawaii, and was moving west-northwest near 12 mph (19 kph).

Also in the Pacific, Jimena strengthened to a hurricane Friday morning with maximum sustained winds near 80 mph (130 kph). Jimena was centered about 1,045 miles (1,680 kilometers) southwest of the southern tip of Mexico's Baja California peninsula.