Officials say to brace for flash flooding, possible tornados and storm surge as tropical storm Elsa moves into South Florida on Monday night, July, 5.
Earlier last week National Weather Service (NWS) officials had said that there was a slight chance tropical storm Elsa would turn into a hurricane before hitting Southern Florida, but it would seem like the situation has scaled down. The National Hurricane Center (NHC) issued a tropical storm advisory this past Thursday, July 1, which remains in place and the NWS has said to brace for heavy rainfall, strong wind gusts in squalls, and isolated tornadoes as Elsa heads past the island of Cuba and into Southern Florida.
Tropical storm Elsa touched down on Cuba earlier on Monday morning and is expected to head to the west coast of Southern Florida later on Monday night, making its way up the state throughout Tuesday and Wednesday before reaching Georgia and the Carolinas later this week.
Jul 5 @ 530am – Here's the latest on Tropical Storm #Elsa. TS Warning for the Gulf Coast, with heavy rainfall, strong wind gusts, and isolated tornadoes possible all areas through Wednesday. Hazardous marine and beach conditions expected. Stay weather aware! #flwx pic.twitter.com/0ksRUL3TQ7
— NWS Miami (@NWSMiami) July 5, 2021
Elsa will be the fifth record-breaking, named storm recorded for the Atlantic basin to hit our shores in the “satellite” era, which began in 1966, according to the National Hurricane Center. The previous record was formerly held by Edouard on July 6, 2020.
The state of Florida has already announced it has a contingency plan ready for those crews working at the Surfside Condo Collapse. Authorities worked on demolishing the remainder of the Champlain Towers South condo on Sunday to prevent any possible danger for rescue teams. Thankfully, however, now it would seem like their efforts will only be affected by rainfall.
Despite the uncertainty of last week’s forecast, the NWS still recommends having your action plan and hurricane supplies checked and ready to go.
July 1st – Do you have a preparedness plan and disaster supplies? While it's still way too early to determine what specific impacts are expected for South Florida, now is a good time to review your supplies and preparedness plan! For more info visit: https://t.co/OSssO0gRRn pic.twitter.com/Gy7ctcB4Qv
— NWS Miami (@NWSMiami) July 1, 2021
So make sure to keep food, water, medicines, radios, flashlights, batteries, phone chargers, cash and other supplies at the ready just in case. For more information on how to stay safe make sure to visit ready.gov’s website here.
See also: 14 Things To Do On A Rainy Day In Miami
[Featured image: Unsplash]