Tropical storm Elsa brings heavy rains to Jamaica, parts of Cuba By Reuters

By Kate Chappell and Marc Frank

KINGSTON (Reuters) – Tropical storms in Elsa on Sunday brought heavy rains to Jamaica, which flooded parts of the Caribbean’s national island, and weather began to worsen in parts of the southeastern coast of neighboring Cuba.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) said the maximum sustained winds are about 60 kilometers per hour (95 km per hour) with higher gusts as Elsa fell from Hurricane Saturday.

A hurricane is said to be a wind of at least 75 mph (121 km / h).

The Elsa Center was close to Jamaica, the NHC said. It was about 50 kilometers (80 km) north of the capital Kingston at 11:00 ET (1500 GMT), and was headed for Cuba.

The storm will bring 4 to 8 inches (10 to 20 cm) of rain to Jamaica, with a maximum of 15 inches (38 cm) in some places. Cuba should expect a maximum of 5-10 centimeters of rain and 15 inches in isolated areas with storm floods of 3.9 to 1.5 meters.

“Some reinforcements are possible tonight and tonight as Elsa approaches the south-central coast of Cuba,” the NHC said in a tip https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/text/refresh/MIATCPAT5+shtml/041158.shtml. “However, a gradual weakening is expected on Monday when Elsa crosses Cuba.”

The NHC predicted that Elsa would move to central and western Cuba on Monday and head to the Florida Strait, and then move to or near parts of Florida’s west coast on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The approaching storm has forced Florida officials to demolish the rest of the condo building that collapsed about 10 days ago, leaving at least 24 people dead.