Moving into Windward Islands
BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - AFTER racing across the Atlantic over the last several days, Elsa has developed into a hurricane and is pounding the Windward Isand with heavy wind and rainfall.
The storm crossed over into the Caribbean Sea and has resulted in St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines and the southern portion of Haiti from Port Au Prince to the southern border with the Dominican Republic being placed under Hurricane Warning.
Persons living on the South Coast of the Dominican Republic from Punta Palenque to the border with Haiti, along with Jamaica, have all being placed under a Hurricane Watch.
Grenada, Saba and Sint Eustatius, along with the North Coast of the Dominican Republic from Cabo Engano to Bahia de Manzanillo are under a Tropical Storm Warning.
Elsa has developed into the Atlantic’s first hurricane, packing sustained winds near 75 mph with higher gusts.
Forecasters have predicted that there would be little change in strength during the next 48 hours, with some decrease in winds possible on Monday (July 5) as Elsa interacts with Cuba.
At 11:00 a.m., the National Hurricane Center (NHC) placed the center of Hurricane Elsa near latitude 13.4 North, longitude 61.2 West. She is moving toward the west-northwest near 29 mph (46 km/h), and that motion is expected to continue during the next couple of days with some decrease in forward speed expected on Sunday night.
According to the NHC, on the forecast track, Elsa would move away from the Windward Islands during the next several hours, move across the eastern Caribbean Sea later today and tonight, and move near the Southern Coast of Hispaniola late Saturday or Saturday night.
Forecasters predicted that by Sunday, Elsa would move near to Jamaica and portions of eastern Cuba, and move near portions of Central and Western Cuba on Sunday night and early Monday.
