It was continuing to move to the north-northwest at 10 mph (16 kph). Its core was about 65 miles (105 kilometers) west-northwest of Key West, Florida, and 215 miles (345 kilometers) south of Tampa. A slow strengthening is forecast through Tuesday night and Elsa could be near hurricane strength before it makes landfall in Florida. Search and rescue crews have worked through rain in search of more than 100 others listed as missing, but must pause when lightning threatens, and a garage area in the pancaked debris already filled with water Monday, officials said.Įlsa’s maximum sustained winds stood at 60 mph (95 kph) early Tuesday. My vision is to be prepared.”īands of rain were expected to reach Surfside on Florida's Atlantic coast, soaking the rubble of the Champlain Towers South, which collapsed June 24, killing at least 32 people. ”“I’ve seen this happen over the years and I decided to load up,” Jones said. She was buying ice and food at a local grocery store in advance of the storm. Annie Jones, 51, has lived along the Gulf Coast her entire life. Still, some people were taking no chances. “We can hunker down for days,” Peregrine said. He noted they have ample supplies and a charcoal grill to cook on if the power goes out. Peregrine said the two families had been coming to the Pinellas County beach for 10 years. “Before we left, we knew it was coming,” Wirtz said. Both are from Tampa, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) across the bay and have been through storms many times. “The main concern here is, if it doesn’t speed up and decides to stall, there will be enormous erosion,” she said.įriends Chris Wirtz, 47, and Brendan Peregrine, 44, were staying put at a beachfront inn with their families. Her main concern is what will happen to sand on the adjacent beach and the dunes that protect her house and others. Nancy Brindley, 85, who lives in a seaside house built in 1923, said she has experienced 34 previous tropical cyclones and is not having shutters put on her windows. Free sandbags were being handed out at several locations, and a limited number of storm shelters opened Tuesday morning in at least four counties around the Tampa Bay area, although no evacuations have been ordered. The Tampa area is highly vulnerable to storm surge because the offshore waters and Tampa Bay are quite shallow, experts say.īut on the barrier island beach towns along the Gulf Coast, it was largely business as usual with few shutters or plywood boards going up. A hurricane watch was issued for a long stretch of coastline, from Egmont Key at the mouth of Tampa Bay to the Steinhatchee River in Florida's Big Bend area. ![]() ![]() National Hurricane Center warned of life-threatening storm surges, flooding and isolated tornadoes. In addition to damaging winds and heavy rains, the Miami-based U.S. The weather was getting worse in southern Florida on Tuesday morning as Tropical Storm Elsa began lashing the Florida Keys, complicating the search for survivors in the condo collapse and prompting a hurricane watch for the peninsula's upper Gulf Coast.
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