Tropical Storm Elsa Makes Landfall Along Florida Gulf Coast

Caption

Pedestrians dash across the intersection of Greene and Duval streets as heavy winds and rain associated with Tropical Storm Elsa passes Key West, Fla., on Tuesday, July 6, 2021.

Credit: Rob O'Neal/The Key West Citizen via AP

The U.S. National Hurricane Center says Tropical Storm Elsa has made landfall along north Florida's Gulf Coast. The storm's center went ashore in Taylor County, a lightly populated area. Forecasters say Elsa's path will slice across inland north Florida with heavy rains and wind and then move on to Georgia. Maximum sustained winds are near 65 mph with higher gusts. Weakening is expected as Elsa moves further inland later Wednesday.

A weakened Tropical Storm Elsa is dumping rain along a long stretch of Florida's coastline but has spared the state of major damage. 

Tornado warnings were issued in several northern Florida counties, including the Gainesville area, on Wednesday morning. Heavy rain and gusty winds are expected across northern Florida once the storm makes an expected turn to the northeast. Some flooding is also expected in the region, where the ground is already saturated from heavy rain late last week.

Forecasters said Elsa would slice across inland North Florida as a tropical storm with strong winds and rain, and move on to Georgia, the Carolinas, and Virginia before heading out into the Atlantic Ocean by Friday. A tropical Storm warning was posted in Georgia along portions of the Brunswick coast with the National Hurricane Center saying tropical storm conditions with sustained winds of up to 50 mph are expected in parts of the southeast region of the state.  

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