Hurricane Elsa was speeding toward Haiti and the Dominican Republic early Saturday, and what happens when it hits those mountainous islands will likely determine how strong the storm is when it reaches the mainland US.
The Category 1 storm is expected to hit the southern coast of the island of Hispaniola, which Haiti and the Dominican Republic share, later Saturday, and then move near Jamaica and eastern Cuba on Sunday. It’s bringing winds of 75 mph, with stronger gusts, and heavy rain to the region, traveling northwest at more than 30 miles an hour.
National Hurricane Center forecasters said the storm is weakening and slowing down, which could mean it will no longer be a hurricane by the time it’s expected to reach Florida on Tuesday.
“Elsa appears less organized this morning,” the Hurricane Center said Saturday morning.
“The big question is will Elsa be interacting with the mountainous islands of Hispaniola and Cuba,” the agency said. “If the cyclone manages to stay south of those islands, Elsa could have an opportunity to restrengthen. Conversely, if the storm tracks directly over the islands, weakening would very likely occur.”
An Air Force “hurricane hunter” was flying into the storm to collect more data, but available information put the storm heading into the eastern Gulf of Mexico late Monday and then making landfall near Tampa, Florida, before heading north to Georgia and South Carolina.
However, “the details of the long-term track are still uncertain, the forecast said.
The storm lashed the eastern Caribbean islands of Barbados, St. Lucia and St. Vincent and the Grenadines on Friday, tearing off roofs and downing trees. Some flooding was reported on Barbados and St. Vincent, which is still recovering from volcanic eruptions earlier this year, Reuters reported. There were no reports of injuries or deaths.
