Tropical Storm Elsa’s path puts Manatee under a state of emergency. Here’s what that means

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Saturday placed Manatee, Sarasota and 13 other Florida counties under a state of emergency because they are in the potential path of Tropical Storm Elsa.

“By declaring a state of emergency, Governor DeSantis is ensuring that state and local governments have ample time, resources and flexibility to prepare,” the governor’s office said in a news release. “The State Emergency Operations Center activated to a Level 2 this morning, enhancing the coordination between federal, state and local emergency management agencies.”

DeSantis said he is urging residents in the southern part of the state to begin preparing for heavy rain, flooding and potential storm surge that might hit as soon as Monday.

As of the 8 a.m.. advisory Sunday, the National Hurricane Center said Elsa had same maximum sustained winds of 65 mph and was moving west northwest at 13 mph, about 45 miles east northeast of Kingston, Jamaica, and about 145 miles southeast of Cabo Cruz, Cuba.

Tropical storm level winds extended 125 miles from the center.

The current conical tracking projects Elsa bumping South Florida sometime Monday. The Florida Keys remain in the projected path, while Miami-Dade County had edged outof the cone as of the 5 p.m. advisory.

The latest cone shows the storm being off the Manatee County coast during the day Tuesday. The National Weather Service’s latest forecast calls for tropical storm conditions in the county throughout the day.

The other counties under the state of emergency are Charlotte, Citrus, Collier, DeSoto, Hardee, Hernando, Hillsborough, Lee, Levy, Miami-Dade, Monroe, Pasco and Pinellas.

This story was originally published July 3, 2021 at 6:19 PM.