Tropical storm Elsa was officially upgraded to Hurricane Elsa on Tuesday night as maximum windspeeds clocked in at 75 mph. That makes Hurricane Elsa the first real Florida hurricane in the 2021 hurricane season. By the time the Elsa made landfall near Fish Creek, Florida it had thankfully been downgraded to a tropical storm again.

The hurricane warnings effecting Florida have also been downgraded to tropical storm warnings. Tropical storms and hurricanes are powered by warm ocean waters, so as soon as a storm moves onto land it begins to weaken.

That being said, Tropical Storm Elsa will cause some property damage and may even result in serious injuries as it moves through northern Florida and into Georgia. Residents should remain vigilant throughout Wednesday as the storm moves over the state.

As Tropical Storm Elsa made landfall on Wednesday morning, the National Hurricane Center was predicting storm surges of:

• Aripeka, FL to Aucilla River: two to four feet
• Longboat Key, FL to Aripeka, FL (including Tampa Bay): one to three feet
• Aucilla River to Ochlockonee River: one to three feet

As of 11 a.m. on Wednesday, July 7, 2021, Tropical Storm Elsa had maximum sustained windspeeds of 65 mph and was moving north towards Georgia at 14 mph.

Tornado Warnings for Tropical Storm Elsa

Residents of northern Florida and southeastern Georgia should be on the lookout for tornados on Wednesday. Residents of eastern South Carolina and Virginia should be cognizant of an elevated tornado risk on Thursday.

Always heed tornado warnings. As we’ve discussed in some recent content, tornados are a real and very dangerous risk of hurricanes and tropical storm.

Hurricane/Tropical Storm Elsa Rainfall Estimates

• Western and northern Florida: three to six inches with a maximum of nine inches
• Lowcountry South Carolina: two to four inches with a maximum of six inches
• North Carolina and southeastern Virginia: one to three inches with maximum of five inches
• New England: one to three inches with a maximum of five inches

Tropical Storm Elsa, or more likely Tropical Depression Elsa by later this week, is expected to reach South Carolina by Thursday morning, the Washington, DC and Baltimore area by Thursday night and New York and New England on Friday morning.

Stay Safe This Florida Hurricane Season

Our team at Kanner & Pintaluga hope you and your family in Florida and Georgia stay safe this hurricane season. Please heed all local tropical storm and hurricane warnings. If your property is damaged by hurricane winds or wind driven rain, make sure to take lots of pictures and document the damage for your property damage claim. It is much harder for the insurance company to deny a legitimate hurricane wind damage claim when you have photographic evidence.