Ten years to the week that Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast after making initial landfall in Florida, another storm appears to be bearing down on the Sunshine State.
As of Wednesday afternoon, Tropical Storm Erika is less than five days from potential landfall in the state and nearly all of Florida’s east coast lies within the cone of uncertainty.
At the state Emergency Operations Center in Tallahassee, things are still relatively quiet right now, but the center has been partially activated in advance of the storm.
Bryan Koon, director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management, said he feels the next two days will determine just how strong the storm might be, as it encounters wind shear and some land masses.
Koon says now is the time for residents to get their hurricane preparedness kits up to date, especially those who may not have gone through a previous storm.
“Take it seriously. Think about how it’s going to impact you where you are, how it’s going to impact your family," Koon says. "This storm could bring storm surge, heavy surf, rip currents, could spawn tornadoes, certainly potentially flooding rain, high winds.”
Tropical Storm Erika’s current track projects the storm could hit Florida’s southeast coast as a hurricane on Monday morning.
The last tropical system to hit the state was Tropical Storm Andrea in 2013.
Florida’s last land falling hurricane was Wilma in 2005.
For more information on the storm, or how to prepare, visit www.FloridaDisaster.org.
