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Tuesday, July 06, 2021

Tropical Storm ELSA made landfall in the big bend area of Florida’s western coast that caused at least 25,773 customers have lost power


Tropical Storm Elsa creates large waves on July 7, 2021, in Cedar Key, Fla. A warning is in effect for a 200-mile stretch of Florida's gulf coastline as the storm makes landfall. After hitting Cuba on Monday, causing flooding and mudslides, Elsa is expected to pass over the states of Georgia and South Carolina in the coming days. (Mark Wallheiser/Getty Images)

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(July 6, 2021): According to CNN, As of 2:13 p,m. ET on July 7, 2021, 25,773 customers have lost power as Tropical Storm Elsa made landfall in Florida. The storm is now pushing inland and slowly weakening, but is expected to remain a tropical storm as it moves up the eastern seaboard over the next several days.

Elsa is now "inland and weakening over Northern Florida," the National Hurricane Center said in its 2 p.m. ET update.

The storm has maximum sustained winds of 50 mph as it continues to crawl across the state. All warnings have been discontinued south of the Suwannee River, the National Hurricane Center said.

It was a night of heavy rains and high winds for people on the Florida coast as Tropical Storm Elsa approached the area. Johnathan Riches of Tampa shot these videos on Wednesday in Cedar Key, Florida, hours before the storm made landfall today. Riches told CNN that the worst of the storm seemed to happen between 6 and 8:30 a.m. ET.

Florida Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nuñez said Wednesday that Tropical Storm Elsa has made landfall in the big bend area of Florida’s western coast. 

Speaking at a press conference in Surfside, Nuñez said the storm is currently impacting Taylor County.  

For more information about the Elsa storm, please read news from USA Today on Yahoo News at:

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Elsa regains hurricane status, roars closer to Florida's west coast; 4M under warnings

 

VERO BEACH, Fla. — More than 4 million people were under warnings along Florida's west coast Tuesday as Elsa strengthened again into a hurricane, spinning past the Key West and closer to the Sunshine State.

The hurricane warning was in effect from Egmont Key to the Steinhatchee River. A hurricane warning means that hurricane conditions are expected in the area, in this case within the next 24 hours, according to the National Hurricane Center.

"Preparations to protect life and property should be rushed to completion," the hurricane center said.

The storm was centered about 65 miles southwest of Tampa, as of 11 p.m. EDT Tuesday, driving sustained winds of 75 mph, the National Hurricane Center said in an advisory.

The storm moved north at 14 mph, much slower than its record-setting pace of more than 30 mph last week.

This GOES-16 GeoColor satellite image taken Tuesday at 5:50 p.m. EDT, and provided by NOAA, shows Hurricane Elsa in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Florida.
This GOES-16 GeoColor satellite image taken Tuesday at 5:50 p.m. EDT, and provided by NOAA, shows Hurricane Elsa in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Florida.

Tropical-storm-force winds extended outward up to 80 miles from its center, while hurricane force winds extend outward up to 25 miles.

Fifteen people were rescued off the coast of Key West, the U.S. Coast Guard said on Twitter. Nine people were still missing as of Tuesday night.

Strong wind gusts and heavy rains swept across parts of southern Florida on Tuesday morning. "Life-threatening" storm surge, flooding and isolated tornadoes were possible, the advisory warned. Much of the southern portion of Florida was under a tornado watch.

The NWS forecast Elsa to make landfall off the Florida Coast late Wednesday morning. Tampa International Airport temporarily suspended operations Tuesday night ahead of the storm's arrival.

Isolated pockets could see up to 9 inches of rain, though most places across the Keys would see 3 to 6 inches, the advisory said.

Cubans flee180,000 Cubans flee their homes as Tropical Storm Elsa slams ashore

Gov. Ron DeSantis issued a state of emergency for more than two dozen of the state's 67 counties. At a news briefing Tuesday morning, DeSantis reminded residents not to focus on Elsa’s “cone of concern” because the storm’s “impacts are expected well outside that area.”

And if you look at how the storm is, it’s incredibly lopsided to the east,” DeSantis said. “So most of the rainfall is going to be east of the center of the storm.”

President Joe Biden approved an emergency declaration for the state, meaning the federal government will fund 75% of evacuation and shelter support costs.

Miami-Dade County, which DeSantis removed from the emergency list, was not entirely spared. Heavy rains and strong winds were reported, and lightning late Monday forced crews to pause the search for victims of the condo collapse June 24 in Surfside, officials said.

MacDill Air Force Base near Tampa evacuated some planes to McConnell Air Force Base in Wichita, Kansas, before the storm.

After Florida, Elsa will hit coastal Georgia and the Carolinas, portions of which were under a tropical storm warning, forecasters predict.

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp issued a state of emergency Tuesday affecting 92 counties in middle, south and southeast Georgia in preparation for the storm.

About 180,000 Cubans fled their homes before the storm; no deaths were immediately reported there. Across portions of Cuba through Tuesday night, rainfall of 5 to 10 inches with isolated maximum amounts of 15 inches was expected, resulting in "significant flash flooding and mudslides," the advisory said.

Elsa was blamed for at least three deaths on its sweep through the Caribbean last week.

Elsa is the earliest fifth-named storm on record, and it broke the record as the tropics' fastest-moving hurricane, clocking in at 31 mph Saturday morning, said Brian McNoldy, a hurricane researcher at the University of Miami.

AccuWeather senior on-air meteorologist Geoff Cornish said the season is far from over – “only in the second inning, season-wise, if this were a baseball game."

Track Elsa's path

Elsa spaghetti model

Bacon reported from Arlington, Virginia; Rice from Silver Spring, Maryland. Contributing: Elinor Aspegren, USA TODAY; Diane Pantaleo, The (Lafayette, La.) Daily Advertiser; The Associated Press

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Elsa restrengthens into a hurricane, roars toward Florida landfall

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