Tropical Storm Elsa To Hit Parts Of Florida, Hurricane Watch Issued For The State

Elsa is moving up the Florida coast and is now near the Tampa Bay area after strengthening to a hurricane on Tuesday. The storm is expected to make landfall on Wednesday morning over the northern Florida Gulf Coast, according to the National Hurricane Center. "Hurricane conditions are expected tonight and early Wednesday along a portion of the west coast of Florida, where a Hurricane Warning is in effect," NHC said in an 11 pm advisory. Thirty-three counties are under a state of emergency, Gov Ron DeSantis said at a news conference. The Florida National Guard also activated 60 guardsmen to serve at the state's Emergency Operations Center and Logistics Readiness Center. President Joe Biden approved an emergency declaration for the state ahead of the storm. The declaration, which began Sunday, authorises the Federal Emergency Management Agency to coordinate all disaster relief efforts in southern Florida. Elsa's center, with sustained winds of 75 mph, was over water about 100 miles south-southwest of Tampa as of 8 pm ET, the hurricane center said.

A hurricane warning is in effect from Egmont Key near St Petersburg in west-central Florida to the Steinhatchee River in northern Florida's Big Bend region. Meanwhile, Elsa's outer bands also could drop rain on Florida's eastern side, perhaps affecting areas such as the community of Surfside, where search & rescue teams still are working at the site of a deadly building collapse. Watch the video to know more.