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Elsa strengthens into season’s 1st hurricane in Caribbean

Published:Friday | July 2, 2021 | 8:30 AM
This satellite image provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shows Hurricane Elsa moving through the Caribbean, over Barbados, Tuesday, July 2, 2021, at 12:00 Z (8am a.m. ET). Elsa was expected to pass near the southern coast of Hispaniola on Saturday and to move near Jamaica and portions of eastern Cuba on Sunday. (NOAA/NESDIS/STAR GOES via AP)

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Elsa strengthened into the first hurricane of the Atlantic season on Friday as it battered the eastern Caribbean, where officials closed schools, businesses and airports, and it appeared headed eventually for Florida or the US Gulf Coast.

Heavy rains and winds lashed Barbados as the Category 1 storm headed for islands including St Vincent and the Grenadines, which are struggling to recover from recent massive volcanic eruptions.

Elsa was located about 75 miles east of St Vincent and was moving west-northwest at 28 miles per hour.

It had maximum sustained winds of 75 miles per hour, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami.

“That level of sustained wind can blow down a lot of buildings and cause a lot of damage,” said St Vincent Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves.

“I am pleading with you. Let us not take this hurricane lightly. This is not the time to play the fool.”

A hurricane warning was in effect for Barbados, St Lucia and St Vincent and the Grenadines.

The long-term track showed the storm rolling toward the Dominican Republic and Haiti as a hurricane before weakening back to tropical storm force and potentially heading in the direction of Florida by early Tuesday.

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