ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (NewsNation Now) — A weakened but resilient Tropical Storm Elsa killed at least one person in Florida on Wednesday and injured several others when a possible tornado struck a campground at a Navy base in southeast Georgia.
The National Hurricane Center said Elsa still packed 45 mph winds more than six hours after making landfall along Florida’s northern Gulf Coast. The storm’s center was near Valdosta, Georgia, by 5 p.m. Wednesday.
Elsa seemed to spare Florida from significant damage, though it still threatened flooding downpours and caused several tornado warnings.
Authorities in Jacksonville, Florida, said one person was killed Wednesday when a tree fell and struck two cars. The National Weather Service reported 50 mph wind gusts in the city. The tree fell during heavy rains, said Capt. Eric Prosswimmer of the Jacksonville Fire Rescue Department. He said no one else was injured.
In nearby Camden County, Georgia, a possible tornado struck a park for recreational vehicles at Kings Bay Naval Submarine Base. About 10 people were injured and taken to hospitals by ambulance, said base spokesman Scott Bassett. The extent of their injuries was not immediately clear. He said some buildings on the base appeared to have been damaged as well.
Elsa wobbled through the Gulf of Mexico, briefly reaching hurricane strength, but moved ashore as a tropical storm, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said Wednesday in its 11 a.m. advisory. The storm made landfall in lightly populated Taylor County, Florida, with maximum sustained winds clocking 65 mph.
Gov. Ron DeSantis said at a morning news conference that no major structural damage from the storm had been reported.
“Clearly, this could have been worse,” the Republican governor said, adding that many storm-related deaths come after the system passes. “Be very careful when you’re working to clear debris.”
The hurricane center said parts of Florida could see up to 8 inches of total rain accumulation from the storm. There was also a risk of flooding in Georgia and South Carolina, which were predicted to get 3 to 5 inches of rainfall. Tornado watches were in effect in parts of northern Florida and southeast Georgia into Wednesday evening.
Valdosta, Georgia, and surrounding Lowndes County came under a flash flood warning as Elsa’s center passed nearby. Some roads and yards flooded, and nearby Moody Air Force Base a reported wind gust of 41 mph, said county spokeswoman Meghan Barwick.
Scattered power outages were being reported along Elsa’s path Wednesday evening, with about 35,000 homes and businesses on either side of the Georgia-Florida state line without electricity, according to the website poweroutages.us.
“We’re fortunate to see minimal damage & flooding this morning, but it’s important to keep safety top of mind. Be aware of your surroundings & don’t drive through flood waters,” Tampa Mayor Jane Castor said on Twitter.
Schools and government offices in the Tampa area were closed and most public events postponed as Elsa approached Tuesday. Castor, however, predicted hockey’s Stanley Cup finals game between the Tampa Bay Lightning and Montreal Canadiens would be played as scheduled Wednesday night.
Earlier Tuesday, Elsa swept past the Florida Keys but spared the low-lying island chain a direct hit.
The storm also complicated the search for potential survivors and victims in the collapse of a Miami-area condominium on June 24. Despite that challenge, crews continued the search in the rubble of Champlain Towers South in Surfside, Florida, on the state’s southeast coast.
The coasts of Georgia and South Carolina were under a tropical storm warning. Forecasters predicted Elsa would remain a tropical storm into Friday, and issued a tropical storm watch from North Carolina to Massachusetts.
Elsa briefly strengthened to a hurricane last week, when it killed at least three people, blew roofs off homes, toppled trees and sparked flooding in Caribbean island nations east of Cuba.
Cuban officials evacuated 180,000 people against the possibility of heavy flooding from a storm that already battered several Caribbean islands.
Elsa is the earliest fifth-named storm on record, said Brian McNoldy, a hurricane researcher at the University of Miami.
This story is developing. Refresh for updates.
Pedestrians dash across the intersection of Greene and Duval streets as heavy winds and rain associated with Tropical Storm Elsa passes Key West, Fla., on Tuesday, July 6, 2021. The weather was getting worse in southern Florida on Tuesday morning as Tropical Storm Elsa began lashing the Florida Keys, complicating the search for survivors in the condo collapse and prompting a hurricane watch for the peninsula’s upper Gulf Coast. (Rob O’Neal/The Key West Citizen via AP) 
Determined visitors head for Sloppy Joe’s Bar while crossing a flooded Duval Street as heavy winds and rain pass over Key West, Fla., Tuesday, July 6, 2021. The weather was getting worse in southern Florida on Tuesday morning as Tropical Storm Elsa began lashing the Florida Keys, complicating the search for survivors in the condo collapse and prompting a hurricane watch for the peninsula’s upper Gulf Coast. (Rob O’Neal/The Key West Citizen via AP) 
Looking north at the neighborhood of Paradise Island on Treasure Island, Fla., outer bands of Tropical Storm Elsa brings a downpour of rain over the area on Tuesday afternoon, July 6, 2021. Elsa is expected to impact the Tampa Bay area the heaviest during the predawn hours of Wednesday morning. (Marc Topkin/Tampa Bay Times via AP) 
John Jelkl, 71, has his wheel chair loaded down with sandbags as he leaves the sandbagging site in the parking lot of the James “JC” Turner Fields,Tuesday, July 6, 2021 in St. Petersburg, Fla. Pictured in the background, on left, are cars waiting in line for sandbags. “I stay in a place that is low,” Jelkl said. “I gotta put down sandbags so water won’t get in.” (Dirk Shadd/Tampa Bay Times via AP) 
Jonathan Hines, left, catches a sandbag tossed by Jovan Williams, both with the City of St. Petersburg Stormwater Department, as they work along with 15-20 other employees to load up cars at the sandbag distribution site in the parking lot of the James “JC” Turner Fields,Tuesday, July 6, 2021 in St. Petersburg, Fla. (Dirk Shadd/Tampa Bay Times via AP) 
Flight cancellations seen on a board at Tampa International Airport’s cell phone waiting lot on Tuesday, July 6, 2021, in Tampa, Fla. (Ivy Ceballo/Tampa Bay Times via AP) 
Tim Mullen, 47, and Michael Brissette, 11, cover their windows with hurricane shutters in preparation for Tropical Storm Elsa, Tuesday, July 6, 2021 in Tampa, Fla. (Arielle Bader/Tampa Bay Times via AP) 
Melissa Loven, Qi Crystal Energy shop owner, left, and Crea Egan, right, prepare the store ahead of tropical storm Elsa Tuesday, July 6, 2021, in Tampa, Fla. (John Pendygraft/Tampa Bay Times via AP) 
Stelios Uzunbylu, left, and Jerry Kalouris, right, secure a tarp over a cargo hold on his sponge boat on Tuesday, July 6, 2021, on Dodecanese Blvd at the Tarpon Springs, Fla., Sponge Docks where businesses were being closed and boats were being prepared for the arrival of Tropical Storm Elsa.(Douglas R. Clifford/Tampa Bay Times via AP) 
Foot traffic was sparse and most businesses closed by late Tuesday, July 6, 2021, on Dodecanese Blvd at the Tarpon Springs, Fla., Sponge Docks where building were being prepared for the arrival of Tropical Storm Elsa. (Douglas R. Clifford/Tampa Bay Times via AP) 
Shawn Frazier, 61, reinforces tarps over his Tampa home’s roof ahead of Tropical Storm Elsa on Tuesday, July 6, 2021. Frazier said there was some leaking he caught during a recent rainy day. (Ivy Ceballo/Tampa Bay Times via AP)