Tropical Storm Alex, the first-named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, headed for Bermuda on Sunday after it rained in parts of Florida, flooding some roads.
Alex reached the strength of the tropical storm after it intensified off the east coast of Florida early Sunday.
Forecasters from the National Hurricane Center said at 8 a.m. (12:00 GMT) that Alex had a maximum sustained wind of 50 miles per hour (80 km / h) and was concentrated at about 635 miles (1020 kilometers) west-southwest of Bermuda.
It was moving northeast at 22 miles per hour (35 km / h) and was expected to pass near or exactly north of Bermuda on Monday, with a tropical storm warning in place.
Parts of South Florida were flooded by heavy rain and wind on Saturday. Miami authorities have warned drivers about road conditions as many cars are stuck on flooded streets.
“This is a dangerous and life-threatening situation. Traveling in these conditions is not recommended. It is better to wait. “Turn around, don’t drown,” the city of Miami tweeted.
The city was pulling stranded vehicles off flooded roads.
Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber said the storm had tested a system of drainage pumps recently installed in the city as climate change increasingly made flooding a problem in low-lying areas.
“We moved the water pretty quickly, but in some areas it was obviously a real challenge,” Gelber said. “There were problems crossing some streets, one of the main arteries was impassable, but in general the water is dissipated.
Alex emerged in part from the wreckage of Hurricane Agatha, which hit Mexico’s Pacific coast last week, killing at least nine people and leaving five unaccounted for.
In Cuba, the storm killed three people, damaged dozens of homes in Havana and cut off electricity in some areas, according to authorities. Heavy rain continued on Saturday, but decreased as the weather system moved away from the island.
The season of hurricanes in the Atlantic Ocean officially began on Tuesday. It’s an unusually early start to the storm season, but it’s not unprecedented for Florida.
The National Hurricane Center predicts rainfall of up to 10 inches (25 centimeters) is possible in South Florida, including Florida Keys.
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This story corrects that the storm formed over the Atlantic Ocean, not over the Gulf of Mexico, and also adjusts the official death toll in Mexico to nine.
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