Tropical Storm Erika remnants drench Florida
A flood watch was in effect for all of south Florida through Monday morning as the remnants of Tropical Storm Erika combined with a low pressure system over the northern Gulf coast were expected to produce strong thunderstorms capable of producing winds of over 50 mph and flooding, CBS Miami reported.
The scattered but strong storms will remain in the forecast through at least the middle of the week.
Rain chances will also be high in central Florida as what is left of Erika continues to move north along Florida's Gulf Coast, CBS affiliate WKMG reports.
"There will be some isolated spots with up to 5 inches of rain, while most areas could see up to 2 inches by the end of Tuesday," WKMG meteorologist Troy Bridges said.
Meanwhile, Fred has strengthened to a hurricane as it approaches the Cape Verde Islands in the Atlantic Ocean. The U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami says Fred's maximum sustained winds Monday morning are near 80 mph.
On Sunday, rescue teams worked to reopen roads to remote communities in Dominica after Erika caused flooding and mudslides that killed at least 20 people and left more than 50 missing on the Caribbean island.
Officials evacuated the first 109 of roughly 1,000 people ordered out of the town of Petite-Savanne because of fears of new landslides, said Don Corritte, director of the office of disaster management. Evacuations were carried out by boat because of damage to roads and bridges.
Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit said that all of the residents of the town in the country's southeast would be evacuated on Monday. He declared disaster status for nine local areas.
In Haiti, the storm killed at least one person in a suspected landslide. Four others died when a truck hit a bus during the downpour.