Tropical Storm Elsa reached the north of the Gulf coast in Florida late on Wednesday morning-bringing heavy rains, causing power outages, and threatening powerful winds and flooding as it moves.
Elsa with sustained winds of 65 m/h swept through Taylor County in the Big Bend area around 11 am Eastern time, the National Hurricane Center said.
The storm has already caused flooding in the west-central part of the state and should hit northern Florida and parts of Georgia until Thursday evening, after which it will reach the Carolinas and the mid-Atlantic coast.
In addition, strong winds in areas of northern Florida, Georgia and South Carolina can bring down trees and power lines.
Tropical Storm #Elsa made landfall in Taylor County along the North Florida Gulf Coast at around 11am EDT. Maximum sustained winds were estimated at 65 mph at the time of landfall.
Info: https://t.co/905zOAYiId pic.twitter.com/pIif2y3Ygu
— National Hurricane Center (@NHC_Atlantic) July 7, 2021
«We had a lot of rain last month. If the wind speed reaches 40 or 50 m / h, some of these trees will fall, » said CNN meteorologist Chad Myers.
According to the PowerOutage.us, more than 22 thousand utility customers in Florida were left without electricity on Wednesday afternoon.
ELSA IN FLORIDA🌀 | Video from Pine Island, FL shows the storm surge that crested the sea wall earlier today.
Video by: @tferguson10 | https://t.co/tvMVYIaQSv pic.twitter.com/u9E189QNMB
— News4JAX (@wjxt4) July 7, 2021
In the morning, some parts of southwest Florida also experienced flooding. The affected areas included the Fort Myers area, where flooding made some roads impassable, the National Weather Service said.
Earlier on Tuesday, Elsa became a category 1 hurricane, but on Wednesday it weakened again to a tropical storm. In this regard, a weather warning is in effect for 5 million people in the areas of Florida, Georgia and South Carolina.
