State leaders urge Florida residents to keep eye on Elsa

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - With the Fourth of July on Sunday and many people off work Monday, it was shaping up to be a relatively quiet week.

But Elsa might have other ideas.

After officials Friday upgraded Tropical Storm Elsa to Hurricane Elsa, Florida was in the cone of its probable path in the coming days. A wiggle here or a wiggle there can change that. But doesn’t it seem a little early to be worrying about a storm?

State Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis sounded the alarm Friday.

"I’m urging all Floridians to monitor weather reports and prepare now," Patronis said in a statement. "This storm has the potential to impact portions of the Florida peninsula early next week, bringing storm surge, wind, and rainfall. As we’ve seen in the past, storms can change course and strengthen quickly, leaving little to no time to prepare, so now is the time to ensure your disaster plan is in place."

Logan McFaddin, assistant vice president of state government relations for the American Property Casualty Insurance Association, also put out the word that "now is the time to gather copies of your insurance policies, save your insurer’s contact information to your phone and make a home inventory. These simple actions will help ensure you can file a claim quickly if your property is damaged."

Florida typically moves into the height of hurricane season in August and September, but hurricanes also have hit in July. As a notable example, Hurricane Dennis made landfall as a Category 3 storm near Navarre Beach on July 10, 2005.