TAMPA, Fla., (Reuters) – Hurricane Hermine wreaked havoc across Florida yesterday, causing widespread power outages and flooding before diminishing into a tropical storm and plowing up the Atlantic Coast into the Carolinas with a still-potent mix of high winds and heavy rains.
The first hurricane to make landfall in Florida in 11 years, Hermine swept ashore early yesterday near the Gulf shore town of St. Marks, 20 miles (30 km) south of the capital of Tallahassee, packing winds of 80 mph (130 kph) and churning up a devastating storm surge in coastal areas.
Torrential downpours and high surf left parts of some communities under water early Friday, with mandatory evacuations ordered in parts of five northwestern Florida counties.
State officials said electricity had been knocked out to nearly 300,000 homes and businesses by afternoon.
One storm-related death was reported by authorities in the northern Florida town of Ocala, where a fallen tree killed a homeless man sleeping in his tent.
Hermine was expected to snarl Labor Day holiday travel as it churned northeast for several more days after battering Florida’s $89 billion tourism industry.
While maximum sustained winds had weakened to 50 mph (80 kph), the tempest headed to the Atlantic seaboard along a path inhabited by tens of millions of Americans, prompting storm watches and warnings as far north as Rhode Island.
