(Reuters) – A tropical depression threatening Florida and parts of the southeastern United States with severe thunderstorms was upgraded yesterday to Tropical Storm Colin by the U.S. National Hurricane Center.
The storm is expected to hit Florida’s Gulf Coast by today, with rain already drenching parts of the southeastern United States on Sunday afternoon. Forecasters warned of severe thunderstorms along the East Coast and issued a tropical storm warning for Florida’s Gulf Coast.
Colin is the second named storm in a week at the beginning of what is expected to be a brisk Atlantic Ocean hurricane season running through Nov. 30. Over Memorial Day weekend the Carolinas were lashed by heavy rain and winds from Tropical Storm Bonnie.
The first hurricane of the year, Alex, brought rain and wind but little damage to Portugal’s Azores archipelago in January.
By early evening yesterday, heavy rainfall from Colin was spreading northward toward Florida, the hurricane center said. The storm could dump up to eight inches of rain on the state, with the potential for one to three feet of flooding if storm surge occurs at high tide, the hurricane center said. Sandbags were being made available in the Tampa area.
