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Tree falls in Maitland neighborhood
A large tree fell during a storm that came through a Maitland neighborhood, Monday evening. People living there say it was one of the few trees left standing after Hurricane Charley in 2004.
LAKE MARY, Fla. - As Tropical Storm Elsa made its way across Cuba on Monday, the storm dumped massive amounts of rain on the island. Outer bands are already being felt across the Florida Peninsula.
"It is spinning right over Cuba. It's overland, but it's expected to emerge back over the Florida Straits and in doing so it will tap some very warm water and strengthen," said FOX 35 Storm Team Meteorologist Brooks Garner. "A couple of things are affecting it right now: dry air being pulled in and also westerly wind shear. That combined with its land interaction is definitely not helping the health of Elsa."
Elsa is expected to bring two to four inches of rain across the region as the storm makes it way up Florida's West Coast. Coastal counties will be most impacted but flash flooding and the threat of tornadoes exists for the whole region.
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Elsa's outer bands begin to impact Central Florida
As Tropical Storm Elsa made its way across Cuba on Monday, the storm dumped massive amounts of rain on the island. Outer bands are already being felt across the Florida Peninsula.
A large tree fell during a storm that came through a Maitland neighborhood early Monday evening. People living there said it was one of the few trees left standing after Hurricane Charley in 2004.
"We didn't hear a thing. We were looking at the backyard which looked like hurricane, then my wife came out and said did you look in the front? I said no, and we came around to the front and whoop, there it was," said Steven Anderson, who lives across the street.
A woman named Lisa, who owns the property, said the storm tore through the neighborhood.
"It came in fast and furious, and probably lasted 25 minutes but probably three minutes of really strong rotation and I'm pretty sure that's what took it down."
Local officials got work crews to come cut up the tree to keep it from blocking the street. Fortunately, when it fell it didn't damage any homes in the area. Amazingly, Lisa and her husband said they never heard the tree come down.
"We heard some thunder and lightning and lots of wind rotation. We didn't hear anything. We came out to say goodbye to our son who was leaving, and he said, 'Mom, did you see what happened?' and our tree was gone," she said.
Lisa and her husband say they're sad to see the tree go. They plan to plant a new tree there once the fallen one gets hauled away.
MOBILE USERS WATCH ELSA UPDATE FROM BROOKS GARNER