Tornado warnings have been issued for areas of South Carolina, as the deadly Tropical Storm Elsa heads north after making landfall in Florida on Wednesday.
In the early hours of Thursday morning, the National Weather Service (NWS) in Charleston, South Carolina, issued tornado warnings for several areas of the state.
At around 2:35 a.m. local time, the NWS confirmed that a radar-confirmed tornado was located near the Mount Pleasant airport and Wando River moving north at 35 mph, prompting the agency to issue warnings across South Carolina.
The tornado warnings, which were issued for areas including inland Berkeley County and the community of Huger, were in place until 5:00 a.m. in some parts of South Carolina. There have been no deaths so far reported in the state from the tornadoes.
Thunderstorms have also been detected, as areas of the state could experience up to 8 inches of rain on Thursday, with the National Hurricane Center issuing a Tropical Storm Warning for South Carolina, "Portions of the Mid-Atlantic And New England States."
Tropical storm conditions are expected to reach New York on Friday, according to the agency.
The extreme weather is being caused by Tropical Storm Elsa, which made landfall in Florida on Wednesday afternoon, killing one person in that state and injuring several others in nearby Georgia as a tornado struck a Navy base.
The death occurred in Jacksonville, Florida, after the storm's wind gusts, which were measured at up to 50 mph in the city, caused a tree to fall and strike two cars in the afternoon.
"Weather is unpredictable," Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry said at a press conference on Wednesday. "This is really early in the (hurricane) season. We're just outside of the July 4th holiday, we've had our first storm and, unfortunately, we've had a fatality."
The National Hurricane Center said that the storm still had sustained winds of around 45mph when it reached Georgia on Wednesday evening, as Florida was spared from the major damage and widespread power outages that were expected.
A majority of the injuries reported at the Georgia naval base from the tornado on Wednesday were minor. Around 12 RVs sustained damage but there were no major issues relating to buildings and infrastructure.
Elsa is expected to stay as a tropical storm through Friday as it moves from North Carolina to Massachusetts overnight.
Newsweek has contacted the NWS for comment.
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