At least four people have died and two others are unaccounted for when Tropical Storm Eta hit the states of Florida and North Carolina on Thursday.
Residents of the area witnessed unprecedented floods after Eta made landfall just north of Tampa Bay with winds reaching 90 mph by the evening.
Eta is the 28th named storm to pass through the US this year but isn’t the strongest. It did however kill 120 people in Central America and Mexico before landing in South Florida.
In Alexander County, North Carolina, authorities are looking for two people including a baby after confirming three fatalities caused by floods.
In Florida, a Manatee County resident was stuffing sandbags around his home on Wednesday when he got electrocuted in water, not realizing an appliance was plugged in.
“It was an accident,” Bradenton Beach Police Sergeant Lenard Diaz said. “I’m sure he didn’t realize the appliance was plugged in or the appliance was underwater and that’s what happened. It’s a scary situation.”
A huge gator was also brought by Eta and was spotted at a golf club in Florida. It prompted fears and shock among residents for being massive and large with long legs.
A bar owner in Tampa Bay described a catastrophic scene when she came to check on her business located along the beach.
“It was pretty bad last night when I came in,” JP Brewer said of the four inches of water that flooded the restaurant.
“I’ve been here almost eight years and we’ve never had water damage. This is the worst I’ve seen.”
In Tampa, officials rescued a dozen people stuck in flooding, while some neighborhoods were ordered to evacuate, and local bridge temporarily closed off during the storm surge.
President Donald Trump added 13 counties along the Gulf Coast to a federal emergency declaration that already involved some South Florida counties.
