Preparations are being made in advance of Tropical Storm Erika.

Crews with the Salvation Army in Tampa are packing up water to move to south Florida despite the uncertainty of Erika's track.

Computer models have shifted farther east and most show Erika east of Florida but it's too soon to say how strong a system it could be at that time.

Still, crews are shipping close to 50,000 bottles of water to a staging area in West Palm Beach.

Salvation Army officials said getting supplies over to the east coast now will help them deploy teams immediately if the storm makes landfall in Florida.

If Erika does strike Florida, it will be the first storm to hit the state since 2013 when Tropical Storm Andrea made landfall just north of Citrus County.

"We know that water is an essential need after hurricanes," said Major James Hall, area commander for The Salvation Army Tampa Area Command. "By getting this water down by the east coast, we are preparing our teams to deploy immediately."