Mass evacuations ordered as millions brace for ‘LIFE-THREATENING’ Storm Alberto
FLORIDIANS have abandoned their homes as Subtropical Storm Alberto swept across the Gulf of Mexico towards the US.
By Anders Anglesey
DailyStar.co.uk
28th May 2018
Thousands of residents in The Sunshine State filled bags with supplies and raced to leave the area on Sunday, just hours before the massive hurricane is expected to slam into the coast.
Storm Alberto is currently 120 miles south of Apalachicola, in Florida, and is due to make landfall along the Panhandle part of the state at about 4pm (8pm BST) today, according to the US National Hurricane Centre.
The storm is the first named cyclone of 2017, which started to form days before the official start of the hurricane season.
It is expected to build up to wind speeds of about 50mph and dump about 12 inches of water as it crashes into an area that takes in Mississippi to western Georgia.
Florida residents are also preparing for a series of isolated tornadoes in northern and central parts of the stat, before Alberto is set tip rip apart low-lying areas that are “likely to cause life-threatening current conditions”.
The storm comes after a series of deadly hurricanes in the US and Caribbean last year walloped places including Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico – causing billions of dollars in damage.
The Florida Panhandle has been issued with a mandatory evacuation notice, affecting some 4,200 housing units, while Taylor County, to the east has a voluntary evacuation order in place for its coastal areas.
Florida Governor Rick Scott, who issued a state of emergency on Saturday across the the region, said on Sunday that the National Guard has 5,500 members ready to be deployed.
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