Emergency Alerts For Season’s First Named Storm

Reuters reports:

Gulf Coast residents should “take this storm seriously”, the National Weather Service said early on Sunday, as Subtropical Storm Alberto drove north, threatening heavy rains and winds to the southern coastal states. Florida, Alabama and Mississippi declared states of emergency on Saturday as the storm threatened up to 12 inches of rain over the Memorial Day weekend, as well as tidal surges and damaging winds, according to Patrick Burke of the weather service’s Weather Prediction Center in College Park, Maryland.

All 67 Florida counties were issued the emergency notice to give state and local governments enough time and resources to prepare, Florida Governor Rick Scott said in a statement. His Mississippi and Alabama counterparts also declared states of emergency, citing the threat of coastal and inland flooding from storm rains. Alabama Governor Kay Ivey issued a state of emergency covering 40 counties beginning at 6 a.m. on Sunday.