9 people missing, 13 rescued off coast of florida after boat capsizes amid tropical storm elsa

Nine people are missing in the waters off the coast of Florida after Tropical Storm Elsa swept by with nearly 100 mph winds, authorities said. The crew of a motor vessel alerted Sector Key

West watchstanders around 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday to report that they'd found four people in the water, about 26 miles southeast of Key West, the U.S. Coast Guard said in a press release.

With help from a Good Samaritan, the Coast Guard's Cutter Thetis rescued 13 people — nine men and four women — from the water. The survivors told the Thetis crew members that

they'd left from Cuba, and their vessel capsized around 8 p.m. on Monday with 22 people on board, according to the release. "The search for more survivors continue[s] as evaluate

the health and provide medical attention for those rescued," the Coast Guard said on Twitter Tuesday night. Nine people — seven men and two women — were still missing as of Tuesday

night, and search efforts continued overnight. At the time of the rescue, Elsa was a tropical storm with sustained winds of 70 mph about 95 miles northwest of Key West, according to the

_South Florida Sun Sentinel_. By 8 p.m., it had strengthened into a Category 1 hurricane. The National Weather Service (NWS) said Wednesday that Elsa would make landfall along the north

Florida Gulf coast by late morning or afternoon before moving across the southeastern and mid-Atlantic U.S. through Thursday. NWS said Elsa's maximum sustained winds are near 65 mph

with higher gusts, and that its strength likely will not change until it makes landfall, at which point it'll weaken as it moves inland.