Storm Elsa, which killed three people in the Caribbean, gained intensity on Monday, July 5 with winds of 100 km / h, before crossing Cuba and then heading towards Florida.
Read also: The collapsed building in Florida demolished before the arrival of storm Elsa
At 9:00 a.m. local time (1:00 p.m. GMT), "
Elsa maintains a northeast heading, at around 22 km / h with winds of up to 100 km / h and even higher gusts
," said the National Meteorological Institute. from Cuba (Insmet). The state of alarm has been declared for the provinces of Havana and Mayabeque, and the state of alert for the province of Artemisa. "
It is possible that it gains in intensity before touching the ground, this afternoon, in the area of Ciénaga de Zapata, on the south coast of Matanzas
", according to Insmet. The storm is then expected to cross the island from south to north.
Storm Elsa killed three people over the weekend as it passed through the Caribbean, bringing with it high winds and heavy rainfall.
On the south coast of the Dominican Republic, a 15-year-old young man was killed in the Bahoruco region by a fall of a wall, and a 75-year-old woman died in the same circumstances in Bani, according to the Center d emergency operation (COE).
A third person died in Soufrière, on the island of Saint Lucia (southern Martinique), said the Caribbean Emergency Management Agency for Disasters (CDEMA).
No considerable damage in Cuba
"
Cuba continues to monitor (the storm) and remains ready to help
" other affected countries, Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez assured Sunday on Twitter. Elsa hit the entire southern coast of Cuba from the sea on Sunday and Monday morning, but no significant damage was reported. The Cuban civil defense had anticipated and declared a "
state of alarm
" in the affected regions, which had taken preventive measures. Faced with this situation, President Miguel Diaz-Canel wrote on his Twitter account on the night of Sunday to Monday: "
so far damage has only been observed in agriculture, mainly in the province of Gramma
" (is). "
I ask our population to continue to protect themselves well so as not to deplore human losses
, ”he added.
After leaving Cuba at the end of the evening to enter the Straits of Florida, Elsa “
will pass near the archipelago of the Keys, early on Tuesday.
Then it should pass near or over parts of the west coast of Florida on Tuesday and Wednesday,
”predicts the National Hurricane Center (NHC).