Tropical storm Eta
thump Florida again on Nov 12th, flooding beach communities along
the Gulf of Mexico, making rescuers to wade through hip-deep water and hitting
portions of Tampa and Jacksonville as it made its way back out to sea.
Tropical storm Eta extended
its life shell turning into a tropical storm on October 31st. It
later grew into a powerful category 4 hurricane causing 4 landslides in Central
America- in Nicaragua on Nov 4th. Then hop scotching
through Cuba and Florida keys and then its final return just north of Tampa.
As it moved, Eta
was scarcely getting on to the tropical storm strength as it was making its way
over Jacksonville. The storm however managed to pull down from 50/kmph to
40/kmph as it passed off the coast of Fernandina Beach.
Eta's aftermath is
compared to that of 1998's hurricane Mitch, the most destructive storm to ever
hit Central America, which led to the wave of migration to the US.
Eta is termed as
the 28th named storm and the 12th hurricane of an
uncommon drudging Atlantic hurricane season which runs from June 1st to November
30th. The storms formation tied a record set in 2005 when hurricane Katrina,
Rita and Wilma devastated parts of the Gulf Coast.
Eta has now
produced nine named storm days according to Philip Klotzbach, a meteorologist
at Colorado State University. Only two Atlantic named storms forming in
November in the satellite era had generated more named storm days: Epsilon in
2005 with 9.25 days and Gordon in 1994 with 9.5 days, he said.
Effects of ETA
Even though the
center of Eta is off the coast, it still produces stormy winds and heavy
rainfall across the portions of South Florida and Florida Keys.
Police in Sarasota
have been wading through drenched streets- in regions where it hadn't been
touched by the historic storms.
Heavy rainfall at
Central part of the Florida Keys was a point of initiation for the storms
latest destruction as of, as its strong winds battered the upper keys of
Miami-Dade and Broward Counties over the weekend.
The storm has
created enough flooding making it unsafe for motorcycles. Fort Lauderdale
officials called for 23 vacuum trucks to clear as many drains as possible to
prevent flooding, however, flooding was still reported.
On November 11th,
residents of Florida were urged by Gov. Ron DeSantis to prepare for the storm
and said that the Federal Emergency Agency had granted his request for a
"pre-landfall emergency declaration" to help summon Federal Aid to
affected areas.
"We understand
the anxiety and frustration our customers are feeling to have to prepare for a
storm, late in this unprecedented hurricane season. We have assembled a
restoration workforce of approximately 10,000 and we are working to secure
additional personnel." says FPL CEO and President Eric Silagy.
The Mayor in
Florida Keys ordered for mandatory shut down of mobile home parks, campground
and RV parks and those lying in low-lying areas. Roads were shut down due to
flooding and gusty winds that may hamper school buses carrying students.
However islands
were spared any major damages, and officials expected shelters to close and
reopen schools by Tuesday.
Several
Universities have been shut that fall on Eta's path. On Thursday, University of
Florida in Gainesville, University of South Florida in Thampa, the Public
School District in Hillsborough County, Thampa and Hernando School District
were all asked to shut down.
Power cut caused
due to storm, made it difficult for residents across South Florida affecting at
least 36,000 customers as of Nov 9th.
In the worst hit
countries Nicaragua, Honduras and Guatemala, 90 people died, 113 still missing
and 210,000 are evacuated from their homes. rescue teams have taken measures to
find missing people before more rain hits in water logged areas.
The Triple Threat
Communities living
along the Caribbean coast including the Misiki to and Garifuna people have been
heavily affected, trapped between winds and floods whipping inland as
landslides rushed downhill. "Some communities may never recover,"
said McAndrew Deputy director of IFRC in America.
The region is
facing triple threat of extreme weather, mass migration caused by economic
instability and violence and Covid-19
Volunteers are
taking precautions- handing sanitizers and masks but with more than hundred
people crowding shelter home, there are fears it could spread virus.
"We have a COVID
situation, we have dengue and have other vectors we are monitoring. Now we are
waiting for the development of the next storm." said Santiago Luengo, from
the IFRC in Honduras.
While the storm has
destroyed livelihoods by sweeping away neighborhoods, there is a great
possibility for migration. A similar situation took place took place back in
1998.
"We're seeing
more and more natural disasters and it's the most vulnerable people who are
affected. People having financial stability can move out of harm's way when the
hurricanes hit or will have a residence built to better withstand it. This is
another reason for migration," says Mc Andrew.
Written by - Peter
Fernandes
Edited by – Adrija Saha
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