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Rainfall runoff from Tropical Storm Elsa likely will raise Lake Okeechobee’s level by 6 inches, but there are no plans to release excess water east into the St. Lucie River, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said Friday. « Right now, we are comfortable and don’t anticipate releases. That’s obviously pending another storm event, » Florida commander Col. Andrew Kelly said. « (Tropical Storm Elsa) did not really manifest too much directly over the lake. » Lake O’s level — technically its elevation above sea level — was nearly 13 feet,2½ inches Friday, according to Corps data. That’s about: As rainfall runoff from the storm continues to drain into the watershed over the next few days, the lake’s level ultimately is expected to increase overall by a half-foot, Kelly said. Elsa fluctuated between a weak hurricane and an even weaker and disorganized tropical storm, beginning July 1. Elsa made landfall as a tropical storm with 65 mph winds in Taylor County, north of Steinhatchee, around 11 a.m. Wednesday. « I certainly was concerned about Elsa when it was in the Caribbean, and I was concerned that we got an ‘E’ storm this early in the year, » Kelly said Friday, referring to the World Meteorological Organization’s Atlantic cyclone naming system.
