Hurricane Elsa gaining strength as it nears Florida landfall
By FREIDA FRISARO and ANDREA RODRIGUEZ
Published
Chief Meteorologist Paul Dellegatto
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - A storm that has lashed the Caribbean and the Florida Keys with pounding rain and gusty winds and complicated the search for survivors in a deadly condominium collapse has strengthened into a hurricane.
The National Weather Service said Tuesday that Hurricane Elsa was packing winds as high as 75 mph (121 kph) as it hurtled toward Florida’s northern Gulf Coast. The Category 1 storm is expected to make landfall between 8 a.m. and 9 a.m. Wednesday, somewhere between the Tampa Bay area and the Big Bend region.