Tropical Storm Beryl hits land in Fla. with near-hurricane force winds

Tropical Storm Beryl hits land in Fla. with near-hurricane force winds

Associated Press

MIAMI

Tropical Storm Beryl has made landfall in northeastern Florida early today, bringing drenching rains and driving winds to the southeastern U.S. coast, forecasters said.

The National Hurricane Center in Miami reported that the center of Beryl made landfall near Jacksonville Beach at around 12:10 a.m., with near-hurricane-strength winds of 70 mph. The hurricane center reported late Sunday that the weather system was in the process of making landfall.

“There are strong rain bands that are rotating around the center of the storm...” forecaster Al Sandrik said in an audio statement on the NHC website.

The weather system is expected to continue dumping rain over parts of Florida and Georgia all day today. It is expected to weaken as it moves inland and become a tropical depression by Monday night, and then moves out to sea.

Tropical storm warnings were in effect for the entire Georgia coastline, as well as parts of Florida and South Carolina.

Florida Gov. Rick Scott urged Florida residents in the affected areas to “stay alert and aware.”