Elsa slams East Coast, heads north
BRUNSWICK, Ga. — Tropical Storm Elsa dumped “torrential rains” over the Carolinas and whipped up a tornado in southeast Georgia as it moved through the region Thursday, before heading up the East Coast toward New England.
Nine people were hospitalized Wednesday night after a tornado spawned by Elsa struck Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay in Camden County, Ga. and 38 miles from Jacksonville, Fla.
The twister swept across the ballistic missile submarine base overturning vehicles at the base’s RV park, where the injuries occurred.
Emergency officials from outside the base helped transport the injured to local hospitals where they were treated for non-life threatening injuries, including broken bones.
A base-wide tornado warning was issued at 8:48 p.m. Wednesday, and it made landfall on base two minutes later.
Other facilities were also damaged on base, but the ballistic missile submarines on base and other critical facilities were unharmed, base officials said.
The tornado also struck areas of St. Marys, Ga. where officials are still assessing the damage.
By Thursday morning, Elsa was located 45 miles west of Florence, S.C., and 150 miles southwest of Raleigh, N.C. The storm was moving northeast at 18 mph with maximum sustained winds of 40 mph. Tropical storm force winds — which range from 39 mph to 73 mph — extend up to 115 miles.
A tropical storm warning was in effect from South Santee River, South Carolina, to as far north as New Hampshire on Thursday morning.
“A Tropical Storm Warning means that tropical storm conditions are expected somewhere within the warning area,” according to the National Hurricane Center.
The entire South Carolina coast and most of the North Carolina coast were under a high risk of rip currents through Friday, indicating that “lifethreatening rip currents are likely,” the NWS says. People were being advised to stay out of the water under a high risk as the “surf zone is dangerous to all levels of swimmers.”
By Thursday afternoon, Elsa had moved up the coast to New Jersey. The National Weather Service issued a flash flood warning Thursday for Bergen, Essex and Passaic counties as severe weather rolled through the region.
And even Maine was preparing for stormy weather.
Thanks to the tropical storm, a hard, soaking rain was expected to develop Thursday night along the Maine coastline and continue into Saturday morning, according to the National Weather Service.