MIAMI, July 8 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Tropical Storm Elsa made landfall in Florida on Wednesday, lashing the Gulf Coast of the southern US state with wind and rain but losing strength as it moved inland.
The National Hurricane Center (NHC) said the center of the storm, which was downgraded from a Category 1 hurricane overnight, made landfall in Taylor County along the Gulf Coast of northern Florida.
Elsa was packing maximum sustained winds of 85 kilometers per hour at 2:00 pm, the NHC said.
“Continued weakening is expected through tomorrow (Thursday) as Elsa moves over land” on a northern trajectory, it said.
Elsa was logged as the first hurricane of this year’s Atlantic season before being downgraded to a tropical storm.
Over the weekend, Elsa battered Jamaica and Cuba, claiming at least three lives as it cut a path of destruction through the Caribbean.
Elsa claimed two lives in the Dominican Republic and a third in the island state of Santa Lucia, the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency said. — NNN-AGENCIES
