Carrying torrential rainfall, Tropical Storm Eta now lashes the Caribbean, traveling damaging winds on early Sunday as it slowly approaches Cuba.
At the moment, Eta is traveling away from the Cayman Islands towards the northeast. It is moving at a speed of 13 mph as of 1 a.m. ET towards Cuba.
The storm has sustained winds of 65 mph with tropical-storm-force winds which extend up to 115 miles out from the center of the storm.
According to the latest forecast, the storm's center will be crossing central Cuba in the next couple of hours and will be soon approaching south Florida and the Florida Keys later on Sunday, CNN reported.
Based on the latest advisory coming from the National Hurricane Center, tropical storm Eta will be passing near or over South Florida and the Florida Keys on Sunday night and Monday.
The Hurricane center also mentioned that the tropical storm conditions are forecast by late Sunday in the Florida Keys along with the portions of the southeast area of the Florida coast.
According to the Hurricane center, there is a possibility of a slight weakening for the storm once it will landfall in Cuba overnight, but Eta will re-strengthen later on Sunday according to the forecast and could possibly be near hurricane strength as it approaches and heads near or over Florida.
For both Caymans Islands and Cuba, there is a possibility of isolated rainfall which totals more than 2 feet through the middle of next week.
The said rainfall totals could lead to life-threatening flash floods and landslides inland portions with higher terrain.
Aside from that, a dangerous storm surge is also forecasted along the coast of Cuba, which is near where Eta will make its landfall on Sunday, and based on the estimation it could range from 2 to 4 feet high.
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Moreover, a tropical storm warning and a hurricane watch are already in effect for the Florida Keys and south Florida, Daily Mail reported.
In addition, a tropical storm warning is also in effect for portions of Central Cuba and the northwestern Bahamas, together with the Cayman Islands.
On Tuesday afternoon, Eta made its landfall along the coast of Nicaragua and was classified as a Category 4 Hurricane. Eta brought not less than 2 feet of rain to parts of Nicaragua and Honduras this week.
An additional 2 to 5 inches of rain is still expected in the forecast for Sunday.
Eta moves towards Southern Florida
According to Yahoo! News, the Communications Director for the governor, Frederick Piccolo Jr., shared that Florida Governor Ron DeSantis declared a state of Emergency for eight counties on Saturday as the tropical storm approaches.
DeSantis declared a state of emergency in areas of Collier, Broward, Lee, Hendry, Martin, Miami-Dade, Palm Beach, and Monroe counties in Florida as a preventive measure and preparation for the possible damages caused by the tropical storm according to Piccolo.
The mentioned counties also include the cities of Miami, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, Key West, and Fort Myers.
After passing the Cuban territory, Eta is expected to take its path toward and potentially over the Florida Keys and after going to the Gulf of Mexico.
Related article: Hurricane ETA, Extremely Powerful and Dangerous Makes Landfall off Nicaragua Threatening Storms Surges
