- Cristobal's outer bands create storms across Florida.
- A tornado damaged at least eight structures southeast of downtown Orlando in Florida.
- Evacuations were ordered in Grand Isle, Lafourche Parish and Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana.
- Four people were caught up in an undertow at a beach in Grand Isle.
The outer bands of Tropical Storm Cristobal continued to cause damage across parts of Florida on Sunday morning, and rain from the storm led to flooding in many Gulf Coast states.
The tropical storm, which was expected to make landfall later Sunday, prompted tornado warnings in Florida, Alabama and Mississippi, and flooding was already occurring in those three states and in Louisiana where evacuations had been ordered.
Flood warnings also were issued for Jacksonville and surrounding Duval County and for neighboring St. Johns County in Florida on Sunday.
The Florida Highway Patrol reported that a tree fell across two lanes of southbound Interstate 295 near Interstate 10 in Duval. Water was standing in the northbound lanes of I-295 near mile marker 54.
(MORE: The Latest Forecast for Cristobal)
At Interstate 10, all on- and off-ramps at Cassat Avenue were closed because of flooding, the FHP said.
The flooding, as deep as 3 feet in some places, closed numerous streets across the city. Inundated cars were stranded.
Meanwhile, cleanup continued Sunday morning after a tornado spawned by Tropical Storm Cristobal displaced as many as 50 people in Orlando, Florida.
Orange County Fire Rescue said a tornado damaged eight structures, including an apartment complex, southeast of downtown Orlando shortly before 7:30 p.m. Saturday.
The damage forced 30 to 50 people out of their homes, the department said.
The National Weather Service office in Melbourne, Florida, on Sunday said the twister began as a waterspout over Lake Conway about 7:20 p.m. It continued northward as a tornado paralleling Ferncreek Avenue. It traveled more than 5 miles before lifting about 7:32 p.m. just north of Lake Lawsona. The NWS rated it an EF0 tornado but added that more substantial damage near Lake Margaret Drive and Ferncreek Avenue was more consistent with an EF1.
The tornado ripped off roofs, blew out windows, toppled walls and crushed cars under fallen trees.
In addition, a possible tornado caused damage in the Wadeview Park neighborhood of Orlando.
A large sinkhole opened in the saturated ground alongside a highway in Florida's Marion County. State Road 35 was shut down in both directions at Dogwood Road after the ground gave way, according to the Marion County Sheriff's Office. A concrete utility pole toppled over and dropped the traffic signals into the intersection.
Heavy rains associated with Tropical Storm Cristobal saturated the ground in Florida's Marion County, causing a large sinkhole to form on Sunday, June 7, 2020, alongside State Road 35 at Dogwood Road, the Marion County Sheriff's Office reported.
(Facebook/Marion County Sheriff's Office)The NWS reported trees were knocked down on several streets in Clearwater, Florida.
Tornado warnings were also issued for parts of coastal Alabama and Mississippi.
Alabama
Police closed the west end of Alabama's Dauphin Island when storm surge pushed water onto Bienville Boulevard, the island's main east-west roadway, WKRG reported. The surge also pushed debris onto the road.
Mississippi
Several roads in Biloxi, Mississippi, were swamped on Sunday by a combination of rain and storm surge.
The Mississippi Department of Transportation closed U.S. Highway 90 from the Biloxi Bay Bridge to the Bay Saint Louis Bridge because of flooding in multiple locations.
The Lighthouse Pier in Biloxi was ripped from its support stilts, WKRG reported.
Boat owners in Pass Christian worked to secure their boats as Cristobal's surge entered the harbor, the Biloxi Sun Herald reported.
Harrison County Emergency Manager Rupert Lacy said a number of drivers had to be rescued from their flood-stranded cars.
“People need to go home and hunker down,” Lacy told the Biloxi Sun Herald reported.
In neighboring Hancock County, emergency management officials said minor and major flooding affected nearly 260 streets, according to the Sun Herald.
Louisiana
Meanwhile, flooding began in parts of Louisiana on Sunday morning and continued through much of the day.
Lakeshore Drive along Lake Pontchartrain was closed as the storm caused water to slosh across the roadway.
Officials in St. Benard Parish said water was washing over roads outside the parish's levee system. A road crew built a rock dam on Highway 46 to control flooding and allow access to Yscloskey, Hopedale and Shell Beach.
Later Sunday afternoon, water breached the Delacroix ring levee and flowed onto nearby roads.
At least three Louisiana communities remained under mandatory evacuation orders, including Grand Isle in Jefferson Parish.
Jefferson Parish Council member Ricky Templet was is riding out the storm in Grand Isle.
"This is the highest water the island has seen since (Hurricane) Isaac," Templet told nola.com, adding that Louisiana Highway 1 was underwater.
"Grand Isle is 7 miles long. We only have about 2 miles of the island that's passable," Templet said.
The city of New Orleans shortly before 1:45 p.m. CDT called for voluntary evacuations for areas outside of the levee system in Orleans Parish, including Venetian Isles, Lake Catherine and Irish Bayou.
An evacuation order went into effect at 2 p.m. Saturday CDT for parts of Terrebonne Parish, about 70 miles southwest of New Orleans. The order covers residents outside of the Morganza to the Gulf Levee System, which protects against storm surge. Earl Eues, director of homeland security and emergency preparedness for the parish, said it's not unusual for the lightly populated area to be evacuated during storms.
“With our history of subsidence and erosion issues that we have on our coastline it doesn’t take much for us to start flooding in our low-lying coastal areas," Eues told weather.com in a phone interview Saturday afternoon.
He said with 2 to 4 feet of storm surge predicted, the area is likely to see roads covered and some properties flooded.
An evacuation order was set for 6 p.m. Saturday CDT for parts of Lafourche Parish including Port Fourchon, about 100 miles south of New Orleans. Residents in Grand Isle were ordered to evacuate starting at 6 a.m. Saturday CDT.
Workers were also evacuated from dozens of oil rigs off the coast.
Voluntary evacuations were advised for the Jefferson Parish communities of Jean Lafitte, Lower Lafitte and Crown Point.
Streetcar service was suspended in New Orleans Saturday afternoon, and ferries were due to cease operations Saturday evening. Amtrak temporarily suspended service to the city.
Electric company Entergy had more than 2,500 employees ready to respond.
Two children died after being caught in an undertow Friday night in southern Louisiana, as Tropical Storm Cristobal churned in the Gulf of Mexico.
The children, brothers ages 8 and 10, were swimming at a beach in Grand Isle around 7 p.m., WVUE-TV reported. Their 12-year-old cousin and an adult male were airlifted to a hospital.
The Grand Isle evacuation order effects about 10,000 people, Police Chief Laine Landry told weather.com in a phone interview Friday afternoon. Landry said the town only has about 1,400 year-round residents, but thousands more come for the summer. He added that the island has seen "record crowds" since the state started to ease coronavirus restrictions.
Landry said officials are most worried about flooding on Highway 1, the main road and the only route off the island.
"What we are concerned about is anyone that either has underlying medical conditions or the elderly, if they need any type of emergency services," Landry said.
Campers and boaters were told to leave the island Friday afternoon.
Grand Isle is Louisiana's only inhabited barrier island. It's often cited as one of the places in the U.S. most vulnerable to rising sea levels. Landry said the community is usually evacuated at least once a year.
(MORE: Cristobal Could Be 'Test Run' For Hurricane Season in the Era of Coronavirus)
Cristobal is forecast to come ashore in Louisiana, most likely sometime Sunday. It's not expected to be a major storm, but could cause dangerous flooding and storm surge.
"Overall, this should be a modest storm surge event, by Gulf standards," weather.com senior meteorologist Jon Erdman said. "That said, low-lying roads could be cut off, particularly at high tide around midday Sunday from southeast Louisiana at least to Florida's Apalachee Bay."
Communities all along the northern Gulf Coast were handing out sandbags, reminding their residents to stock their supply kits and making sure shelters are ready if needed this weekend.
Louisiana Gov. Jon Bel Edwards declared a state of emergency Thursday night and reminded people to add a few things to their emergency kits this year.
"While it is still too early to know for sure what impact Cristobal could have on Louisiana, now is the time to make your plans, which should include the traditional emergency items along with masks and hand sanitizer as we continue to battle the coronavirus pandemic," Edwards said in a news release.
Later Friday, Edwards requested a pre-landfall emergency declaration from President Donald Trump in an attempt to secure federal assistance. Some local governments also declared a state of emergency.
New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell also issued an emergency declaration.
Residents in several parishes and counties were filling free sandbags at local distribution sites as officials advised paying close attention to local emergency agencies and alerts.
In New Orleans, pumps are a key defense against flooding. A spokeswoman for the city Sewerage & Water Board told NOLA.com Wednesday that all 99 of the agency's main drainage pumps were operational and will be fully staffed during the storm.
The Weather Company’s primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM.
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