Elsa looms as Floridians, vacationers brace for season's 1st tropical strike
By
Mark Puleo, AccuWeather staff writer
Updated Jul 7, 2021 12:13 AM EDT
AccuWeather's Bill Wadell was in Key West, Florida, on July 5, where crews are warning people to get ready for tropical storm-force winds and street flooding.
Netra and Gerald Wiltz have had quite a challenging vacation. After the Louisiana couple had their travels dashed last year due to COVID-19, they decided to make up for it with a Florida trip this year. Their plan?
"I planned an 11-day road trip around January," Netra told AccuWeather National Reporter Bill Wadell. "We were going to drive all the way down to Key West, get some sights in, then leave here and head to Surfside, Florida, to stay in our timeshare."
That Surfside timeshare visit, it turned out, was tragically not meant to be.
"We hit a bump in our road last week when we turned on the news at 5 in the morning and realized our timeshare was literally next door to the Surfside condo that collapsed," she said.
Netra Wiltz told AccuWeather that she planned a vacation in January to Key West and Surfside, Florida, long before the condo collapse or Elsa. (AccuWeather/Bill Wadell)
Even after the heartbreaking news of the condo collapse, Netra and her husband Gerald still decided to continue on with their vacation plans, making a stop in Key West on the way.
"So we decided to come down here and was just watching the news when I said to my husband ‘the only thing we need now that can put a bump in our plan is a hurricane,’” Netra said.
As they feared, Elsa has certainly been another bump in the plans.
The Wiltzes aren't the only ones in Florida feeling the sting of Elsa's impending impacts.
In Charlotte County, located along the southwest coast of the Sunshine State, residents told WINK News that the storm surge was their biggest concern.
A Tampa resident fills his vehicle with sandbags ahead of Elsa's arrival. (AccuWeather/Emmy Victor)
"We're going to keep our fingers crossed and hope it's not too bad," Mike Laney told WINK. "For us, it was scary because we only moved here a couple years ago. So being on the water, watching it come up over the banks and come toward the house."
Emergency Management Director Patrick Fuller said on Sunday that the surge doesn't appear to be a significant threat, but keeping an eye out for last-minute changes will be important.
In Key West, Gerald Wiltz echoed that to Wadell, as the couple debated whether or not to adjust plans for traveling to the Miami area.
The Elsa storm surge forecast as of July 6.
AccuWeather
“We're flip-flopping right now,” he said with a chuckle. “Checking the forecast right now is just scary because it looks like they’re trying to say that the eye will hit right over, and the locals are saying one- to three-foot surge is nothing, but we’re not from this area so we don’t know what to expect.”
In Tampa, AccuWeather National Reporter Emmy Victor caught up with residents filling 30- to 50-pound sandbags and loading their cars. Power crews from around the country, with license plates hailing from Alabama and Indiana, were traveling along Interstate 75 toward Sarasota.
On Monday, the system made landfall in Cuba as a tropical storm, where it dumped heavy rain before heading northwards toward the United States, with an expected landfall in Florida north of Tampa Wednesday morning.
Gov. Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency for 15 different counties on Sunday, including Miami-Dade, where recovery teams are still searching through the rubble of the disastrous Surfside condo collapse.
Officials made the decision on Sunday to demolish the remaining portion of the partially collapsed Champlain Towers South building with Elsa in mind. As of Monday, the confirmed death toll from the tragedy is up to 36 fatalities, while 109 others still unaccounted for, The Associated Press reported.
The remaining structure of the Champlain Towers South condo building is demolished more than a week after it partially collapsed, late Sunday, July 4, 2021, in Surfside, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
The Sunday demolition was to secure the site ahead of Elsa, as local leaders were concerned that the storm could threaten the safety of rescuers as well as the stability of the structure that was still standing.
"It appears as though the approaching storm may have been a blessing in disguise for us in that it initiated the demolition discussion," Surfside Mayor Charles Burkett said, according to CNN. "We want to make sure that we control which way the building falls and not a hurricane, so all of this together I think ended up being a good thing."
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Over 200 miles north of Miami, Orange County officials encouraged locals to keep an eye on the forecast. Last week, crews from the county's public works lowered lake levels in one area to account for potential flooding concerns, the Orlando Sentinel reported.
Gerald Wiltz is vacationing in Key West, Florida, ahead of Tropical Storm Elsa's arrival. (AccuWeather/Bill Wadell)
After a year of tourism was nullified by COVID-19, Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings told reporters on Sunday that hotel occupancy in the area is still very high and is expected to remain over 80% for the coming weeks.
For tourists in Key West, like Netra and Gerald Wiltz, they said the locals provided the best advice for riding out a storm.
“We either going to drive out before the storm or wait until after, so we’re just going to try and enjoy," Gerald said. "Everybody says just get to a local bar and when the rain starts falling then get drunk."
Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier, Spectrum, FuboTV, Philo, and Verizon Fios.
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News / Hurricane
Elsa looms as Floridians, vacationers brace for season's 1st tropical strike
By Mark Puleo, AccuWeather staff writer
Updated Jul 7, 2021 12:13 AM EDT
AccuWeather's Bill Wadell was in Key West, Florida, on July 5, where crews are warning people to get ready for tropical storm-force winds and street flooding.
Netra and Gerald Wiltz have had quite a challenging vacation. After the Louisiana couple had their travels dashed last year due to COVID-19, they decided to make up for it with a Florida trip this year. Their plan?
"I planned an 11-day road trip around January," Netra told AccuWeather National Reporter Bill Wadell. "We were going to drive all the way down to Key West, get some sights in, then leave here and head to Surfside, Florida, to stay in our timeshare."
That Surfside timeshare visit, it turned out, was tragically not meant to be.
"We hit a bump in our road last week when we turned on the news at 5 in the morning and realized our timeshare was literally next door to the Surfside condo that collapsed," she said.
Netra Wiltz told AccuWeather that she planned a vacation in January to Key West and Surfside, Florida, long before the condo collapse or Elsa. (AccuWeather/Bill Wadell)
Even after the heartbreaking news of the condo collapse, Netra and her husband Gerald still decided to continue on with their vacation plans, making a stop in Key West on the way.
"So we decided to come down here and was just watching the news when I said to my husband ‘the only thing we need now that can put a bump in our plan is a hurricane,’” Netra said.
As they feared, Elsa has certainly been another bump in the plans.
Here comes Elsa
The Wiltzes aren't the only ones in Florida feeling the sting of Elsa's impending impacts.
In Charlotte County, located along the southwest coast of the Sunshine State, residents told WINK News that the storm surge was their biggest concern.
A Tampa resident fills his vehicle with sandbags ahead of Elsa's arrival. (AccuWeather/Emmy Victor)
"We're going to keep our fingers crossed and hope it's not too bad," Mike Laney told WINK. "For us, it was scary because we only moved here a couple years ago. So being on the water, watching it come up over the banks and come toward the house."
Emergency Management Director Patrick Fuller said on Sunday that the surge doesn't appear to be a significant threat, but keeping an eye out for last-minute changes will be important.
In Key West, Gerald Wiltz echoed that to Wadell, as the couple debated whether or not to adjust plans for traveling to the Miami area.
The Elsa storm surge forecast as of July 6.
“We're flip-flopping right now,” he said with a chuckle. “Checking the forecast right now is just scary because it looks like they’re trying to say that the eye will hit right over, and the locals are saying one- to three-foot surge is nothing, but we’re not from this area so we don’t know what to expect.”
In Tampa, AccuWeather National Reporter Emmy Victor caught up with residents filling 30- to 50-pound sandbags and loading their cars. Power crews from around the country, with license plates hailing from Alabama and Indiana, were traveling along Interstate 75 toward Sarasota.
On Monday, the system made landfall in Cuba as a tropical storm, where it dumped heavy rain before heading northwards toward the United States, with an expected landfall in Florida north of Tampa Wednesday morning.
Impending impacts
Gov. Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency for 15 different counties on Sunday, including Miami-Dade, where recovery teams are still searching through the rubble of the disastrous Surfside condo collapse.
Officials made the decision on Sunday to demolish the remaining portion of the partially collapsed Champlain Towers South building with Elsa in mind. As of Monday, the confirmed death toll from the tragedy is up to 36 fatalities, while 109 others still unaccounted for, The Associated Press reported.
The remaining structure of the Champlain Towers South condo building is demolished more than a week after it partially collapsed, late Sunday, July 4, 2021, in Surfside, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
The Sunday demolition was to secure the site ahead of Elsa, as local leaders were concerned that the storm could threaten the safety of rescuers as well as the stability of the structure that was still standing.
"It appears as though the approaching storm may have been a blessing in disguise for us in that it initiated the demolition discussion," Surfside Mayor Charles Burkett said, according to CNN. "We want to make sure that we control which way the building falls and not a hurricane, so all of this together I think ended up being a good thing."
CLICK HERE FOR THE FREE ACCUWEATHER APP
Over 200 miles north of Miami, Orange County officials encouraged locals to keep an eye on the forecast. Last week, crews from the county's public works lowered lake levels in one area to account for potential flooding concerns, the Orlando Sentinel reported.
Gerald Wiltz is vacationing in Key West, Florida, ahead of Tropical Storm Elsa's arrival. (AccuWeather/Bill Wadell)
After a year of tourism was nullified by COVID-19, Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings told reporters on Sunday that hotel occupancy in the area is still very high and is expected to remain over 80% for the coming weeks.
For tourists in Key West, like Netra and Gerald Wiltz, they said the locals provided the best advice for riding out a storm.
“We either going to drive out before the storm or wait until after, so we’re just going to try and enjoy," Gerald said. "Everybody says just get to a local bar and when the rain starts falling then get drunk."
Related:
Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier, Spectrum, FuboTV, Philo, and Verizon Fios.
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