Still reeling from Dorian, Bahamas hit by Tropical Storm Humberto

Sunday, September 15, 2019

Amy Freeze has the latest on the track of Tropical Storm Humberto.

MIAMI, Florida -- Tropical Storm Humberto moved away from the Bahamas after dumping rain on parts of the archipelago's northwest region that were already hammered by Hurricane Dorian two weeks ago.

Humberto dropped rain on the islands Saturday as U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres visited the Bahamas to support humanitarian efforts in the wake of Dorian, which hit as a Category 5 storm that left thousands in need of food, water and shelter. The list of missing stands at an alarming 1,300 people and the death toll at 50. But officials caution the list is preliminary and many people could just be unable to connect with loved ones.

The storm originally threatened to exacerbate the nation's problems, but conditions appeared to normalize Saturday afternoon.

At 5 a.m. EDT Sunday, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said Humberto was located about 135 miles (217 kilometers) north-northwest of Great Abaco Island and was moving 7 mph (11 kph) north-northwest with maximum sustained winds of 60 mph (97 kph). The Bahamian government discontinued a tropical storm warning earlier in the evening.

Weather forecasters say Humberto will likely become a hurricane Sunday as it moves away from the Bahamas, but won't threaten land by the time it intensifies to that strength. Its swells could still affect the coasts of Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina in the coming days.

The National Weather Service says some beachgoers in Florida should be wary of the risk of dangerous rip currents generated by Humberto along parts of the Atlantic coast.

Under a bright sun in the Grand Bahama, 40-year-old maintenance man Dexter Wilson was helping a friend put a blue tarp on a damaged roof. He said he was worried about his brother in Abaco given the tropical storm.

"He's still there. I don't know why," he said.

The hurricane center said most of Humberto's heavy squalls were occurring north and east of the center of the storm, which passed just east of Abaco. However, government officials in the Bahamas took no chances and urged people in damaged homes to seek shelter as they announced that aid efforts would be temporarily affected.

The tropics remain active this weekend. In addition to Humberto, forecasters are monitoring two other disturbances: one in the eastern Gulf of Mexico and one in the middle of the Atlantic.

The one in the Gulf of Mexico has a low chance of development into early next week, however the one located about 750 miles southwest of the Cabo Verde Islands has a 60% chance of development into a tropical depression within the next five days.

Stay with Eyewitness News and AccuWeather for continuing updates.