Eta floods Florida after making landfall as strong tropical storm

iStock/omersukrugoksuBy: MAX GOLEMBO and JULIA JACOBO, ABC News

(MIAMI) — Tropical Storm Eta has caused major flooding in Florida after making landfall late Sunday night.

The system hit as a strong tropical storm in the Florida Keys around 11 p.m. with wind speeds of 65 mph and slowly moved through the region, drenching South Florida and causing flash flooding in large cities such as Miami and Fort Lauderdale.

Nearly a foot and a half of rain fell in eastern portions of Broward County, north of Miami. More than 14 inches of rain fell near Hollywood, and parts of the Miami metro area received more than 6 inches of rain, according to the National Weather Service.

Eta has broken a record as the 12th named storm to make landfall in the continental U.S. in a single season. The previous record was nine named storms in 1916.

In addition, the last time a named storm made landfall in Florida in the month of November was Tropical Storm Mitch in 1998.

Eta made landfall in Central America on Tuesday as a Category 4 hurricane. Nearly 60 people died after torrential rain flooded homes from Panama to Guatemala, even spurring a mudslide in Honduras that killed several people.

The system later weakened after passing over high-altitude mountains but then strengthened back into a tropical storm as it headed toward the U.S.

Eta is now moving away from Florida, but flood watches are continuing for the southern half of Florida from Fort Myers down to Miami, and an additional few inches of rain are possible over the next few days as the storm meanders in the eastern Gulf of Mexico.

The system is expected to meet up with a cold front moving from the West and will bring heavy rain from North Florida to the Mid-Atlantic States.

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