Monroe County Emergency Management officials are warning Florida Keys residents to prepare for Elsa to possibly be a Category 1 hurricane when it reaches the Keys, which could be early Tuesday morning.
The storm had turned into a Category 1 hurricane on Friday, but was expected to drop back down to a tropical storm on Sunday after skirting Haiti and the Dominican Republic, according to the National Hurricane Center on Friday.
As of Friday, the storm was moving to the west-northwest at 29 mph. Maximum sustained winds are 75 mph, making the storm a Category 1 hurricane. The five-day forecast track cone continues to include the entire Florida Keys and much of the Florida peninsula, although it is expected to slow down as it passes by Jamaica.
Nils Ehmke just moved to the Florida Keys from Germany, buying an elevated three-bedroom house in Big Pine. He absorbed the Friday morning news of a tropical storm being upgraded to Hurricane Elsa, a Category 1, with his new home in the path it was on track to follow.
Tuesday is the predicted day of impact, and along with his wife, Dr. Hanna Koch, Ehmke decided to anticipate potential electric power outages.
âMy wife, who works on coral restorations for the Mote Marine Laboratory, said we should be prepared,â said Ehmke, while loading a 6,500-watt generator onto his truck bed at the Home Depot on North Roosevelt in Key West.