Hurricane Elsa moves away from eastern Caribbean

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC – Hurricane Elsa, the first named storm of the 2021 Atlantic Hurricane Season, was churning through the Eastern Caribbean Sea late on Friday after uprooting trees and blowing away roofs in at least three Caribbean countries.

But, there were no immediate reports of deaths or injuries.

The Barbados-based Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) said that members of the Barbados Defence Force have been deployed to assist with damage assessments, route clearances, and rehabilitative support, after the hurricane, the first to hit the island in 65 years, causing widespread damage as it passed 20 miles to the south of the island early on Friday.

The hurricane also affected the islands of St Lucia and St Vincent and the Grenadines, the latter still coming to grips with the explosive eruptions of the La Soufrière volcano in April.

Many areas in the islands were without electricity and water.

The authorities on the two islands are expected to begin assessing the damage as early as Saturday.

In its latest bulletin, the Miami-based National Hurricane Center said that Hurricane Elsa was moving through the Eastern Caribbean Sea and that it was located about 505 miles south east of Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic and 180 miles west north west of St Vincent.

It has maximum sustained winds of 85 miles per hour and is moving towards the west near 30 miles per hour.

The hurricane centre said that this motion is expected to continue through Saturday.

“A west-northwestward motion with a decrease in forward speed is expected Saturday night and Sunday, followed by a turn toward the northwest Sunday night or Monday. On the forecast track, Elsa will move across the Eastern Caribbean Sea tonight and move near the southern coast of Hispaniola late Saturday or Saturday night.”

The hurricane centre said that by Sunday, Elsa is forecast to move near Jamaica and portions of eastern Cuba, and move near portions of central and western Cuba Sunday night and Monday.

Jamaica has issued a hurricane warning for the island, while Cuba has issued a hurricane watch for the provinces of Camaguey, Granma, Guantanamo, Holguin, Las Tunas, and Santiago de Cuba.

The Meteorological Service of Barbados has discontinued the tropical storm warning for Dominica, but it remains in effect for St Vincent and the Grenadines, St Lucia, Martinique, north of Port Au Prince, Haiti, and the south coast of the Dominican Republic.

The hurricane centre said that little change in the maximum sustained winds is forecast through Saturday.

It said slow weakening is expected to begin Saturday night or Sunday as Elsa passes near or over the Greater Antilles.

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