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One person dead in Florida after Tropical Storm Elsa makes landfall

Florida Hurricane Elsa
Posted at 6:40 AM, Jul 07, 2021
and last updated 2021-07-07 18:40:49-04

One person is dead after Tropical Storm Elsa made landfall on Wednesday.

According to the Associated Press, the person died in Jacksonville, Florida, when a tree fell onto a car.

The AP reported that the coasts of Georgia and South Carolina are currently under a tropical storm, while the National Hurricane Center extended a tropical storm watch up the East Coast to Massachusetts.

The center of Tropical Storm Elsa made landfall in Taylor County along the Gulf Coast of North Florida at about 11 a.m. ET Wednesday, according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC).

Taylor County is southeast of Tallahassee near the state’s "Big Bend" — the Apalachee Bay region where the Florida peninsula becomes the Florida panhandle.

Ahead of landfall, Elsa weakened back down from a hurricane to a tropical storm Tuesday.

In an 11 a.m. ET advisory, the NHC said that as Elsa moves across the western and northern Florida peninsula on Wednesday, heavy rainfall may result in a considerable flash, urban, and isolated moderate river flooding in the area.

The NHC added that there is still a danger of life-threatening storm surge along portions of the west coast of Florida on Wednesday, and a Storm Surge Warning is in effect for that area. Additionally, tropical storm conditions will continue Wednesday across portions of the northeast Gulf Coast Wednesday within the warning area.

As the storm moves northeast, the NHC says Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and southeastern Virginia will likely see heavy rainfall that may result in isolated flash and urban flooding, with considerable flash and urban flooding possible across southeast Georgia and the low country of South Carolina.

“Although the center of Elsa is expected to remain inland of the coastline from Georgia through the Carolinas during the next day or two, tropical storm conditions are expected along much of the coasts of Georgia and South Carolina,” wrote the NHC in its advisory. “Tropical storm conditions are possible along the coast of the mid-Atlantic states by Thursday night or Friday.”

Elsa has already proven to be deadly after claiming the lives of three people in the Caribbean over the weekend.