Tropical Storm Elsa makes landfall in Cuba

Tropical Storm Elsa made landfall in Cuba's central region on Monday, bearing down on the island as it struggles with a spike in Covid-19 cases and shortages of food and other basic necessities amid the deepest economic crisis since the fall of the Soviet Union.

Local forecasters said the storm, which hit Cuba about 135 kilometres southeast of Havana, is bringing strong wind and heavy rainfall that has already soaked areas in the south and center of the island. Rainfall of 12 to 25 centimetres is expected for central areas with a maximum of 38 centimetres forecast in some isolated areas, which could lead to flash flooding and mudslides, Cuba's Meteorological Institute INSMET said.

Over the past few days Elsa battered the eastern Caribbean island nations of Barbados and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. The storm was responsible for two deaths in the Dominican Republic and St. Lucia, and crushed crops in Haiti.

The storm's path will take it over most of central and western Cuba — where more than 100,000 people have been evacuated in addition to 78,000 in the southern part of the country — before it re-emerges in the Florida Straits early Tuesday morning. On Monday morning, tropical storm watches on Florida's west coast were upgraded to a warning and extended farther north.

Elsa's projected track jogged a bit west early Monday — easing the threat for South Florida, including most of the Lower Florida Keys, which now appear likely to see a windy, wet sideswipe rather than a direct hit from a slightly stronger but small system.

In Havana, hundreds of people were evacuated from buildings that are considered unsafe, especially in older areas of the city, the Civil Defense office said. They fear gusty winds could topple some structures that have fallen into disrepair.

A Tropical Storm warning is in effect for Havana, Artemisa, Mayabeque, Villa Clara, Cienfuegos and Matanzas. The office discontinued a tropical storm warning that had been in effect for the provinces of Guantanamo, Santiago de Cuba, Granma, Holguín, Las Tunas, Camagüey and Ciego de Ávila.

As of the 1500 GMT advisory, Elsa was still moving northwest at 22 kilometres per hour, with sustained winds of 104 kilometres per hour. Outer rain bands were already reaching the lower Florida Keys.

"Some slight weakening is likely while Elsa crosses west-central Cuba today. Restrengthening over the Gulf of Mexico is likely to be limited," forecasters wrote the advisory.

The storm got slightly stronger overnight as it moved over very warm waters on the coast of Cuba, but continued to shrink. It's expected to weaken as it moves over Cuba, according to INSMET.

Cuban civil defense authorities reported some damage to agriculture in the southern Granma province, where rain soaked fields where vegetables hadn't been harvested yet.

President Migue Díaz-Canel asked people to remain vigilant and follow storm preparedness guidelines. He has asked repeatedly for people to respect social distancing even if sheltering in the homes of family members or at public shelters as Covid-19 cases continue to rise.

Public health authorities imposed new lockdown measures in high-transmission areas such as the city of Camagüey in central Cuba.

In the Caribbean, more than 12 centimetres of rain had fallen in at least one location in Jamaica as of late Sunday morning and video images showed heavy flooding in Kingston, according to the Jamaican government's Meteorological Service Division.

In the neighboring Dominican Republic, the storm was responsible for at least two deaths, the country's Emergency Operations Center said, after two people were crushed by a collapsed wall in two separate incidents Saturday. Another death was reported in St. Lucia after Elsa battered the eastern Caribbean as a Category 1 hurricane on Friday.