Hurricane Elsa is heading towards Cuba with sustained winds of 130 kilometers per hour: it damaged infrastructure in Barbados and Saint Kitts and Nevis

Hurricane Elsa registered a “slight weakening” as it continued on its way to the coast of Cuba and now provoke sustained winds of 130 kilometers per hour.

“The next three days we must be activated and alerted against the advance of COVID-19 and potential danger of entry of cyclone Elsa, while the vaccination continues. Anticipation is the watchword. Let’s take care of lives and goods, ”the Cuban president posted on his Twitter account this Saturday, Miguel Diaz Canel.

Over the past few hours, the hurricane has moved northwest at a speed of 46 kilometers per hour, and now it is located in the waters of the Caribbean Sea, 520 kilometers from the coasts of Santo Domingo and the Dominican Republic, as reported by the Cuban Meteorological Institute.

Over the next 24 hours, Elsa will continue with a similar course and will vary little in her translation speed and may even gain intensity again..

Cuban authorities recalled the “potential danger“From the meteorological phenomenon and stressed that they will closely follow” its evolution.

TO DAMAGE

Significant damage to agriculture, falling trees, utility poles, and damage to houses and walls is the provisional balance of the passage of Hurricane Elsa over Barbados and Saint Kitts and the Grenadines, in the Lesser Antilles, even if no information on deaths, as it continues on its way west.

The Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Sabotage Caesar, said in statements to the news agency EFE What damage to agriculture was significant, especially in mango and banana plantations.

“All agriculture has been affected, although a damage figure cannot yet be given. We hope that a balance can be proposed tomorrow, ”said the official.

He said that fishing will also be affected, since during the next few days the fishermen will not be able to go out fishing.

“In addition, in the north of the country, there was power outagesCaesar explained, noting that there is no information on the loss of life.

LIGHT POLE AND FALLEN TREES

He said there were a lot of fallen utility poles, as well as trees and walls.

The National Organization for Emergency Management of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines reported that following the passage of the hurricane around 100 people stay in 11 activated shelters.

The government of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines still maintains a tropical storm warning for the small archipelago.

The Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA), based in Barbados, reported that Members of the Barbados Defense Forces have been deployed (BDF) to aid in damage assessment and road clearance.

Authorities in Barbados have disabled the hurricane warning, although they are maintaining a precautionary warning to the population given the number of trees and utility poles that fell as a result of the cyclone.

THE TEAMS WILL CONTINUE TO WORK

The government of Barbados has announced that emergency management teams will continue to work to assist the population and restore the island to normal functioning.

Detachment of roofs, falling fences and trees were more important in the southern part of the island..

In the central part of the island, residents of the municipality of Saint George have also suffered power and water cuts.

In Saint Lucia, the National Emergency Management Organization (Nemo) announced that the tropical storm warning for the Caribbean island has been canceled.

The agency, however, urged citizens to exercise caution due to the risk posed by the potential fall of trees and utility poles, many of which have accumulated on the roads of the Caribbean island after being subjected to the force of the Elsa winds.

JAMAICA HAS ISSUED A WARNING

Jamaican government issued hurricane warning for island. For Sunday Elsa should move out near Jamaica and eastern Cuba.

The latter country, Jamaica, the Dominican Republic and parts of Haiti are currently under hurricane watch or warning ahead of the Elsa Pass., which has maximum sustained winds of 140 km / h, as reported in its last part by the National Hurricane Center (NHC, in English) of the United States.

Elsa, the first hurricane of the year in the Atlantic Basin, is moving rapidly through the eastern Caribbean at a speed of 48 km / h and is located about 815 km southeast of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

(With information from EFE and Europa Press)

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