Alex began to head for the Miami-Dade county, a heavily populated area in Florida, where evacuations where already underway. Alex continued to intensify after nightfall, bringing rough surf to Florida before the outer bands began to hit. Sustained wind speeds of 115 mph where recorded during the 8 AM ET advisory in August 10th, bringing Alex to category 3 intensity briefly before landfall. Alex made landfall at approximately 8.21 AM roughly 50 miles South of Miami. The eyewall of Alex passed directly through Miami and the Miami metro area, causing severe wind damage and 10 foot storm surge. Alex continued to bring heavy rains to Florida after landfall, weakening to a category 1 hurricane. Alex entered the gulf of mexico and briefly weakened to a tropical storm before strengthening to a cat