Tropical storm Elsa should continue its trek across the southeastern and mid-Atlantic U.S. throughout Thursday, said Jack Beven, a senior hurricane specialist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Hurricane Center in Miami, Florida.
Elsa’s maximum sustained winds had diminished from 65 mph to 45 mph as it traveled across Florida late Wednesday afternoon. From its location about 115 miles west-southwest of Brunswick, Georgia, the storm is expected to follow a steady path north and have an impact all the way up the Eastern Seaboard the rest of the week.
Elsa became the first hurricane of the season last week, blasting through the Caribbean and leaving three people dead. It calmed somewhat to a tropical storm but regained hurricane status on Tuesday for a few hours before returning to a tropical storm.
Huge amounts of rain fell over Florida and Georgia, with some places in Florida getting up to 11 inches of rain very quickly, causing flooding concerns in many areas. A falling tree killed a person in Jacksonville, Florida as Elsa moved through on Wednesday, and 11 people were injured in Georgia when a suspected tornado, most likely related to the tropical storm, touched down just before 6:00 p.m. at Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay, officials there said.
Almost all of the injuries at the Naval base were classified as not life-threatening, according to base spokesman Scott Bassett. He did say in a statement none of the submarines were damaged, but there was damage to recreational vehicles in the base RV park and reports of damage to buildings.
A tropical storm watch was issued Wednesday night for southern New England, from New Haven, Connecticut, to Sagamore Beach, Massachusetts, including Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket, and into Long Island.
This is a continuing event and will be updated as more developments occur.
