Florida braces for Hurricane Hermine

Associated Press

CEDAR KEY, Fla.

Hurricane Hermine gained new strength Thursday evening and roared ever closer to Florida’s Gulf Coast, where rough surf began smashing against docks and boathouses and people braced for the first direct hit on the state from a hurricane in more than a decade.

The National Hurricane Center said the storm’s winds increased from 75 mph in the afternoon to 80 mph by evening as the former tropical storm gained new fury.

Hermine was expected to blow ashore late Thursday or early today along the state’s Big Bend – the mostly rural and lightly populated corner where the Florida peninsula meets the Panhandle – then drop back down to a tropical storm and push into Georgia, the Carolinas and up the East Coast with the potential for drenching rain and deadly flooding.

Florida Gov. Rick Scott warned of the danger of a strong storm surge, high winds, downed trees and power outages, and urged people to move to inland shelters if necessary and make sure they have enough food, water and medicine.

“This is a life-threatening situation,” Scott said. “It’s going to be a lot of risk. Right now, I want everybody to be safe.”

Courtney Chason in Carabelle along the coast watched with his girlfriend Thursday evening as the storm surge began smashing into docks and boathouses, covering some in angry surf that slowly tore at the structures. Water also was crashing into yards near the shore.

“I’ve never seen it this high; it’s pretty damn crazy,” said Chason. “I hope it doesn’t get any higher. We need lots of prayers.”

Scott added that 6,000 National Guardsmen in Florida are ready to mobilize after the storm passes. The governors of Georgia and North Carolina declared states of emergency.