The following message was emailed out to subscribers on Monday from Brian Nolan, Indian River County Emergency Management Coordinator:Dear Weather Alert Subscriber: On schedule, the tropics are coming alive with activity and meteorologists are being kept busy monitoring AB&C storms. The National Hurricane Center is currently monitoring Tropical Depression Ana, Hurricane Bill and Tropical Depression Claudette. Starting with Tropical Storm Ana, she is barely hanging on and currently poorly organized and moving south of Puerto Rico. As she moves over Puerto Rico and the mountains of Hispaniola it is unlikely she will survive. In fact, Ana could degenerate into a tropical wave later today. An Air Force reconnaissance unit will be doing further invest igation later today. At 2 PM the center of Ana was located near 17.6 N and 67.3 W with a movement towards the WNW near 23 mph. Hurricane Bill became the first Atlantic hurricane of the 2009 season. He is continuing to intensify and conditions will continue to be favorable for intensification. Bill is currently over 2,400 miles away from Indian River County at 14.1 N and 45.2 W moving WNW at 16 mph. Maximum sustained winds have increased to near 90 mph. Bill could become a major hurricane by Wednesday but track model guidance suggests a more NNW turn. It appears that Bill may not be a threat to the U.S. East coast as most of the models predict Bill will be very close to Bermuda on Saturday but it’s too early to predict with confidence. The National Hurricane Center has issued its final advisory on Tropical Depression Claudette. Claudette made landfall early this20morning around Ft. Walton Beach with winds gusting around 50 mph. She is weakening but producing moderate to heavy rain as she moves over southwestern Alabama Monday and into Northeastern Mississippi Monday night. Rains will gradually subside. There are no protective actions recommended for Indian River County at this time, but you are reminded to be prepared as we are entering into the most active part of hurricane season. Please visit our website at https://veronews.com/21 or call us at 567-2154 to answer any of your hurricane preparedness questions. Brian Nolan Fire MarshalEmergency Management Coordinator ndian River County Department of Emergency Services Emergency Management Division 4225 43rd Avenue Vero Beach, FL 32967 (772) 226-3852
