Anna Maria Island News

The National Hurricane Center has announced a Hurricane Warning is in effect for the Cuban province of Pinar del Rio. A Hurricane Watch is also in effect for the Alabama-Florida border to Suwannee River Florida.A Tropical Storm Watch is in effect for Suwannee River to Anna Maria Island Florida, including Tampa Bay and for the Alabama-Florida border to the Mississippi-Alabama borderAt 700 AM CDT (1200 UTC), the center of Tropical Storm Michael was located near latitude 20.9 North, longitude 85.1 West. Michael is moving toward the north near 7 mph (11 km/h).

U.S. Coast Guard crews are responding to a second grounded barge near Long Boat Key, Fla., from a tugboat that was beset by heavy weather Tuesday. Due to deteriorating weather, the barge spuds were unable to keep the 140-foot barge from drifting to the beach. Coast Guard incident management personnel from Sector St. Petersburg, Fla., are on scene overseeing the operation. No pollution has been reported. "We were monitoring the barge throughout the night, said Petty Officer 2nd Class Eric Garza, member of sector's incident management department. "It was anchored about one half mile from shore.

A 180-foot barge ran aground on Anna Maria Island after breaking free from a tug boat early Tuesday morning. Coast Guard watchstanders at Sector St. Petersburg received notification at 2 a.m., Tuesday, that the operator of tug Abe H was having difficulty steering due to weather and was unable to control the two barges he was pushing approximately one mile west off of Longboat Key. Watchstanders launched Coast Guard Cutter Hawk, an 87-foot Coastal Patrol Boat homeported in St. Petersburg, Fla., and a 45-foot Response Boat-Medium boatcrew from Station Cortez to assist.