JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Thirty-six hours after Tropical Storm Beryl began buffeting northeast Florida with gusts and downpours, the system continued to be a rainmaker across the area Tuesday.
The now tropical depression maintained 30 mph sustained winds it passed Valdosta on a path that will take it to the northeast across Georgia into South Carolina and ultimately back to sea by Wednesday night -- if it holds together that long.
While its intensity has dropped, forecasters say the structure of the storm remains intact and is rotating, bringing moisture from the Gulf of Mexico across north Florida and enhancing the potential for locally heavy rainfall.
While rainfall accumulation around Jacksonville was mostly 3 to 5 inches on Sunday night and Monday, more is the forecast on Tuesday.
"At least 2 inches more rain can be expected as those rain bands continue to sweep northeast and northward," Channel 4 hurricane expert George Winterling wrote on his Eye on the Storm blog.
More than 10 inches of rain has falled in parts of Baker, Columbia, Hamilton, Suwannee and Union counties, and rain is still falling. Those counties were under a flood warning, Tuesday morning, but that has been changed to a flood watch, which is what the rest of northeast Florida and southeast Georgia is under for the rest of the day.
Early Tuesday afternoon, the first glimpses of sunshine broke through the clouds and Channel 4's chief meteorologist John Gaughan said that other than an possible afternoon thunderstorm, the heavy rains are gone.
Work continues cleaning up an estimated 350 trees that fell, crews continue restoring power outages -- down from nearly 40,000 Monday morning to about 6,000 at midday Tuesday.
Riverside and other low-lying areas are waiting for standing water to recede -- which will likely take another day as rain continues to fall and the St. Johns River continues to spill over its banks through high tide Tuesday afternoon.
Tropical Storm Beryl was the strongest tropical storm to ever make landfall before the June 1 official start of the hurricane season and the only tropical storm or hurricane to come ashore in Duval County directly from the east.
"This was trying to become a hurricane," Channel 4 chief meteorologist John Gaughan said, noting the storm's winds increased from 50 mph to 70 mph in the 12 hours before coming ashore just early Monday morning.
All coastal tropical warnings were dropped at 11 a.m., but flood watches continued in force for across most of northeast Florida and southeast Georgia.
"Just because it's weakening doesn't mean we're done with it yet," said Channel 4 meteorlogist Richard Nunn, who has tracked thunderstorms and two brief tornado warnings Monday morning. "There's still more rain coming and the potential for severe weather."
The National Hurricane Center reported that the center of Beryl made landfall near Jacksonville Beach at around 12:10 a.m., with near-hurricane-strength winds of 70 mph.
The highest wind gusts in the area Sunday night were 64 mph at NAS Jacksonville and 62 mph at Mayport Naval Station.
State and national elected leaders joined Mayor Alvin Brown Monday afternoon. After a tour of Jacksonville EOC and a first-hand look at some flooding and tree damage in Riverside, they praised the city's response to an early-season storm.
"If had been a couple months later, it could have been a Category 3 hurricane," Gov. Rick Scott said.
"I hope this is not a sign of things to come," Senator Bill Nelson said. "That you would have one come straight into Jacksonville is either a troubling sign or an unusual sign."
ONLINE RESOURCES: Track Beryl | Current radar | Interactive map
U.S. Rep. Ander Crenshaw said he had unique perspective on the storm and response because he lives in the neighborhood that was one of the hardest hit by Beryl.
"At 4 o'clock this morning, the river was breaking over the bulkhead and there were actually some chucks of concrete thrown out into the road. Docks were destroyed out here," Crenshaw said Monday. "This could have been a whole lot worse."
Duval County and surrounding counties activated their Emergency Operations Centers. Jacksonville opened a special needs shelter at the Legends Center located at Soutel and Moncrief in Northwest Jacksonville at noon Sunday for anyone who is electricity and oxygen dependent should use this shelter in the event of a power outage or flooding. The American Red Cross said only a handful of people showed up, which they said was good news.
Garbage, yard waste and recycling collection in Jacksonville cancelled Monday and rescheduled for Tuesday.
For more information, residents can call 904-630-CITY or visit its Emergency Preparedness website at www.JaxReady.org.