Elsa Puhes News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

>> garrett: good evening, to our viewers in the west, thank you for joining us. i'm major garrett in for norah. we're going to begin tonight breaking news. elsa is now a category one hurricane and it is gaining strength. hurricane warnings have been posted along portions of florida's gulf coast, ahead of its expected landfall overnight. the deadly storm has already slammed into the florida keys, unleashing a torrent of heavy wind and as much as eight as it moves further into the gulf in the coming hours, forecasters are worried that elsa will pick up more power.uthe part of flors already also ...

Villarreal will lead off coverage from anna maria island. mireya, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, major. the northern part of hurricane elsa is hitting florida right now, already 7,000 people, roughly, are without power. government offices, schools and the airports are shutting down and even though it is dry right now, officials are warning that overnight we will see the worst of this storm hit. tonight florida is bracing for elsa, and officials are warning residents to take this storm seriously. >> elsa is forecast to become a hurricane before making landfall. >> reporter: it's alrea...

Storm surge and maybe tornadoes. this comes after elsa battered cuba on monday with heavy rain and flooding. as the storm turns towards anna maria island just south of tampa, businesses are closing early and city buildings are being shuttered. how many bags do you think you've dve 500. >> reporter: 500 bags. >> 500 bags of sand. >> reporter: residents preparing for major flooding. >> the soil is so saturated i'm expecting it's going to rain hard and i'm just not sure. >> reporter: so, you're not taking any chances. >> that's right, that's right. >> reporter: this storm is going to be a big rai...