ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — After ripping over the Tampa Bay region with strong gusts and heavy rain, Elsa weakened to a tropical storm and threatened Florida’s northern Gulf Coast on Wednesday.
“Please take it seriously,” the Republican governor urged reporters in Tallahassee on Tuesday. “This is not the time to go for a joyride since the circumstances are hazardous.”
Early Wednesday, Elsa’s highest sustained winds were 70 mph (115 kph). It is located around 60 miles (95 kilometers) southwest of Tampa at its epicenter. According to the National Hurricane Center, it was heading north at 14 mph (22 km).
Elsa is expected to cut over interior North Florida as a tropical storm with severe rainfall and winds, then continue on to Georgia, the Carolinas, and Virginia before moving out to sea by Friday, according to forecasters.
She stated, “We’re quite sure.”
According to its website, Tampa International Airport halted operations at 5 p.m. Tuesday and expected to restart flights at 10 a.m. Wednesday following a storm damage assessment.
In a statement, Duke Energy, the area’s primary electric provider, said it had roughly 3,000 employees, contractors, tree specialists, and support people ready to respond to power disruptions caused by the storm. More crews were being brought in from Duke’s other states of operation.
Elsa raced over the Florida Keys earlier Tuesday but avoided a direct strike on the low-lying island chain. Even yet, heavy rains and high gusts were forecast for the Keys through Wednesday.
The search for potential survivors and victims in the June 24 collapse of a Miami-area condominium was also hampered by the storm. Despite the difficulties, workers continued to search for survivors amid the wreckage of Champlain Towers South in Surfside, Florida, on the state’s southeast coast.
A tropical storm warning has been issued for a stretch of the coast of Brunswick in Georgia, with sustained gusts of up to 50 mph (80 kph) forecast in areas of southeast Georgia, according to the National Hurricane Center.
Emergency authorities in South Carolina were keeping an eye on Elsa to the north, but no evacuations were required during the busy summer beach vacation season.
The storm was anticipated to move inland, but coastal forecasters warned that the worst weather would be on the storm’s east side, which may drop up to 5 inches of rain and bring wind gusts of up to 55 mph (88 kph) in locations like Hilton Head Island, Charleston, and Myrtle Beach.
According to Brian McNoldy, a hurricane specialist at the University of Miami, Elsa is the earliest fifth-named storm on record.