MIAMI (CN) --- Tropical Storm Elsa strengthened into the first hurricane of the Atlantic season early Friday, bringing wind and rain to the Caribbean and attracting the attention of Floridians.
By midday, Elsa was moving west-northwest through the Windward Islands with maximum sustained winds of 75 mph. The Category 1 hurricane is expected to hit Hispaniola and move north toward Cuba over the weekend.
Meteorologists with the National Hurricane Center predict Elsa will reach South Florida on Monday, but they cautioned the actual path of the storm is still unclear. Some models show Elsa strafing the west Gulf Coast while others show the hurricane curving east around Miami and toward the Atlantic coast. The center of the forecast path has the Tampa Bay area in its sights.
The mountainous regions of Haiti, Jamaica and Cuba could reduce Elsa to a tropical storm again by the time it impacts Florida.
“There is a risk of storm surge, wind and rainfall impacts in the Florida Keys and portions of the Florida Peninsula early next week,” the hurricane center said in an 11 a.m. statement. “However, the forecast uncertainty remains larger than usual due to Elsa’s potential interaction with the Greater Antilles this weekend.”
But the hurricane center stressed the exact strength or track has a “larger-than-normal uncertainty.”
Any wind and rain will likely negatively impact the rescue efforts at the condo collapse in Surfside, Florida, a few miles north of Miami Beach.
Some search-and-rescue efforts resumed at the site late Thursday after halting for several hours following concerns that the rest of the building could fall. Constant rain and lightning in South Florida have hampered rescue efforts over the last week since the 12-story Champlain Towers South condominium mysteriously collapsed. The death toll rose to 20 on Friday and 128 people still remain unaccounted for.
“I’ve ordered our Department of Emergency Management to start preparing a potential state of emergency, so I’m going to be working on that today,” Governor Ron DeSantis said at a Friday press conference in Surfside.
“There will some impacts in Florida at some point starting on Sunday night,” DeSantis said.
The governor said plans are being made to ensure emergency teams can address any storm issues while not impacting search and rescue efforts.
“We do have this weekend to prepare for the possibility of tropical storm conditions at least,” said National Weather Service meteorologist Robert Molleda. “There’s still a lot of uncertainty.”
Elsa is the fifth named storm of the season. The first storm, Ana, formed before the official start of hurricane season on June 1. Earlier this summer, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration scientists predicted 13 to 20 named storms this season with six to 10 becoming hurricanes.
Last year's hurricane season saw 30 named storms, the highest number on record.
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