Tropical Storm Elsa forced National Park System units in South Carolina and Georgia to close/NOAA

National Park System units in South Carolina and Georgia were closed Wednesday in advance of Tropical Storm Elsa, which was expected to bring gusting winds, heavy rains, and possible flooding to the states.

The National Hurricane Center warned that Elsa, which came ashore on Florida's west coast, could bring heavy rains and flash flooding all the way up to the Mid-Atlantic States, and would continue to dump rain further north before heading back out to sea.

"The Tropical Storm Watch has been extended northward along the Mid-Atlantic coast to Sandy Hook, New Jersey, including the Chesapeake Bay south of North Beach, the tidal Potomac south of Cobb Island, and Delaware Bay south of Slaughter Beach," the agency said late Wednesday morning.

In South Carolina and Georgia the following park units were closed Wednesday:

• De Soto National Memorial (Florida)
• Fort Caroline National Memorial (Florida)
• Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve (Florida)
• Cumberland Island National Seashore (Georgia)
• Fort Frederica National Monument (Georgia)
• Fort Pulaski National Monument (Georgia)
• Charles Pinckney National Historic Site (South Carolina)
• Fort Sumter and Fort Moultrie National Historical Park (South Carolina)
• Reconstruction Era National Historical Park (South Carolina)