Residents, vacationers make preparations as Elsa moves north

Residents, vacationers prepare for Elsa as the storm makes the move north

Alex George reports on Elsa storm preparations from residents and renters in Atlantic County

MARGATE CITY, N.J. - Elsa regained hurricane strength as it approaches Florida’s west coast. Meanwhile, on the Jersey shore, people are preparing the real possibility Elsa will approach the shoreline.

During what is one of the busiest beach weeks of the season, a storm is brewing and that means folks in Margate City are getting ready.

"Everyone wants to be out and about. I don’t think it’s going to stop anyone from proceeding with their plans," Bill Gonzalez stated.

"We aren’t doing that for this one. We don’t think it will be such a bad event up here," Todd Hyman explained.

The Hyman Family says the storm doesn’t have them worried. It could just be a lost beach day.

"Our street doesn’t get that bad. We are lucky we have a street that doesn’t flood and our house didn’t even get water with Hurricane Sandy, so we hope it will hold up," Hyman continued.

Some beachgoers will be doing a little home preparation.

"If it’s that bad, I’ll put trash bags on the glass doors," said one vacationer

"We close the shutters. We lock all of our doors, or the water will seep in," a second vacationer remarked.

Others, like Gonzalez, like to be ready for anything.

"It’s a Category 1. It’s a small one. I’m not concerned, but based on my experiences being from the island of Puerto Rico, I take everything seriously cause you never know if that storm can go from one to five," Gonzalez remarked.

The message from Atlantic County is stay safe

"Do the right thing and take everything seriously, because you never know. It might change, it might not," Gonzalez added.