Tropical Storm Elsa brings more heavy rain to parts of Jamaica and Cuba Reuters

Authors: Kate Chapel and Mark Frank

KINGSTON (Reuters)-Sunday’s tropical storm Elsa brought more torrential rains to Jamaica, flooding parts of this Caribbean island nation, and the weather on the south east coast of neighboring Cuba has also begun to deteriorate.

The National Hurricane Center (NHC) said that Saturday’s maximum sustained wind speed was close to 60 miles per hour (95 kilometers per hour), and the gusts were higher, which has demoted Elsa from the hurricane.

A hurricane is defined as a wind speed of at least 75 mph (121 km/h).

NHC stated that the center of Elsa is close to Jamaica. At 11 am Eastern Time (1500 GMT), it is located about 50 miles (80 kilometers) north of the capital Kingston and is heading towards Cuba.

The storm will bring 4 to 8 inches (10 to 20 cm) of rain to Jamaica, and in some places it will reach 15 inches (38 cm) of rainfall. Cuba is expected to receive 5 to 10 inches of rain, and in isolated areas with storm surges as high as 3 to 5 feet (0.9 to 1.5 meters), rainfall may be as high as 15 inches.

“As Elsa approaches the south-central coast of Cuba, it may be strengthened today and tonight,” the NHC said in a consultation report https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/text/refresh/MIATCPAT5+shtml /041158.shtml. “However, it is expected that Elsa will gradually weaken as she crosses Cuba on Monday.”

NHC said it expects Elsa to travel across central and western Cuba on Monday to the Florida Strait, and then move near or over the west coast of Florida on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The approaching storm forced Florida officials to begin demolishing the remaining part of the apartment building that collapsed about 10 days ago, killing at least 24 people and missing more than 120 people.