Tropical Storm Eta set to make second landfall in Florida
12 November 2020
Tropical Storm Eta was unleashing more strong winds, heavy rains and "dangerous storm surge" over parts of Florida early Thursday, ahead of an expected second landfall in the state, per the National Hurricane Center.
The state of play: Eta was pummeling Florida's west coast overnight after briefly strengthening into a Category 1 hurricane offshore from the state's southwest. Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) tweeted Wednesday evening that FEMA had granted his request for a pre-landfall emergency declaration.
10 PM EST Nov. 11th Key Messages for Tropical Storm #Eta:
— National Hurricane Center (@NHC_Atlantic) November 12, 2020
Tropical Storm conditions are expected along portions of the Florida Gulf Coast through Thursday morning with a danger of life-threatening storm surge in this region including Tampa Bay.
Latest: https://t.co/lQ8WhA2D3Gpic.twitter.com/vBwtioUG01
- DeSantis also expanded his state of emergency declaration to cover more counties, with up to six inches of rain forecast to fall in western and central Florida in the next two days, per the Sun Sentinel.
- There were "no immediate reports of any injuries, serious damage or flooding in the Tampa Bay area as the storm skirted past that region Wednesday afternoon," AP reports.
What to expect: "Slow weakening is expected as Eta approaches the west coast of Florida during the next few hours, followed by more rapid weakening after landfall occurs later today," the NHC said in an update at 1am Thursday.
- "Eta is forecast to dissipate over the western Atlantic Ocean by the weekend."
The big picture: Eta is the 28th named storm of the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season, tying a 2005 record that was later broken by the formation of Subtropical Storm Theta in the Northeast Atlantic Monday night.
- Eta made landfall as a tropical storm in the Florida Keys late Sunday and also in Nicaragua last week, when as a Category 4 hurricane.
- It brought torrential rains to parts of Central America, including Guatemala, where rescue crews continued their search on Saturday for over 100 people believed to be buried by mudslides.
Editor's note: This article has been updated withmore details on the storm.
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.
Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.
The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.
- The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.
What the transcripts say:
- Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
- The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
- Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."
Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.