As the fifth named storm of the 2021 Atlantic hurricane season, Tropical Storm Elsa formed on July 1st, 2021 around 900 miles east of the Windward Islands. After rapidly intensifying, Elsa became a hurricane peaking in intensity with maximum sustained winds of 85 mph. Elsa tracked northwest across the Caribbean Sea, bringing significant wind damage to numerous islands including Barbados, Dominican Republic, and Haiti. Early on July 5th, Tropical Storm Elsa made its first landfall in southwestern Cuba.

After re-emerging over water in the Gulf of Mexico, Tropical Storm Elsa made landfall in Taylor County, Florida on July 7th bringing tropical storm force winds and minor storm surge to the Florida coastline. Wind damage was relatively minor as Elsa’s strongest winds remained offshore

Over the next two days, Elsa maintained tropical storm strength as it moved northeast across the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic U.S. With Elsa came heavy rain that triggered flash floods in the New York City metro region and other parts of the Northeast.

A total of 14 deaths and an estimated 1.2 billion dollars of damage have been attributed to Hurricane Elsa.

The full report of Hurricane Elsa can be found via the National Hurricane Center.