TALLAHASSEE, FLA. (WSVN) - Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has declared a state of emergency in parts of the state, including Miami-Dade and Broward counties, due to potential effects from Tropical Storm Elsa.
The governor on Saturday issued Executive Order 21-150 regarding the system, which is expected to make landfall in the Sunshine State early next week.
“All visitors sould heed local evacuation orders if those orders are issued,” said DeSantis during a news conference in Tallahassee.
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The state of emergency extends to the following counties:
- Charlotte
- Citrus
- Collier
- DeSoto
- Hardee
- Hernando
- Hillsborough
- Lee
- Levy
- Manatee
- Miami-Dade
- Monroe
- Pasco
- Pinellas
- Sarasota
Elsa, which had strengthened into the season’s first hurricane in the Caribbean, weakened into a tropical storm on Saturday as it swirled past Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
As of 11 p.m. Saturday, the system has maximum sustained winds of 65 miles per hour, as it churns west-northwest across the Caribbean at 17 mph. It was located just over 175 miles east-northeast of Montego Bay, Jamaica.
“There are some models that say it may break up. There are others that say that it will be a bit of a bump, it will get in the Florida Straits, and it will start to pick up steam,” said DeSantis. “The most recent advisory from the National Hurricane Center pushed it further to the west, and it’s really been pushing further and further west each time they’ve been doing it, slowly but surely, so we’ll be looking at that track as well for the rest of tonight and into tomorrow.”
South Florida could begin to feel the system’s impact as early as late Sunday night.
Monroe County had declared a state of local emergency prior to the governor’s announcement. Portions of the Florida are included in a Tropical Storm Watch that is in effect until further notice.
There are no storm watches in effect for the Upper Keys or Miami-Dade County.
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