(NSF/July 6, 2021) — Areas saturated by recent heavy rains might see flash flooding because of Tropical Storm Elsa, which could reach hurricane strength when it makes landfall early Wednesday on the Florida Gulf Coast. It is move north off the Gulf Coast, causing rain, wind and storm surge.
While Elsa is forecast to make landfall early Wednesday in the area of Levy and Citrus counties in largely rural North Florida, heavy rains are expected along the eastern side of the weather system. This means most of Florida should feel the impacts of the storm, Governor Ron DeSantis said during a news conference at the state Emergency Operations Center in Tallahassee.
“Don’t focus on the cone. Impacts are expected well outside that area, and if you look at how the storm is, it’s incredibly lopsided to the east. So, most of the rainfall is going to be east of the center of the storm.”
DeSantis doesn’t anticipate widespread evacuations, but he advised people to heed advice from local emergency officials and to expect that electricity could be out for several days.
More than 6,000 utility workers have been placed on stand-by, while about 250 members of the Florida National Guard have been called up.
After expected landfall Wednesday morning in North Florida, the National Hurricane Center anticipates the storm will continue northeast into Georgia and the Carolinas.
(From The News Service of Florida)