Hurricane Elsa is slowly finding its way towards the United States of America. Currently hitting Cuba, Elsa had become a category 1 hurricane and was forecasted to gain strength. Right now, Elsa has weakened back into a tropical storm as it is about to zero in on the state of Florida. Conditions in Cuba and Haiti have already deteriorated due to the storm’s strong winds, heavy rain, and inundating storm surge.
Also read: Storm Elsa batters Cuba as it heads towards Florida
The storm underwent rapid intensification on Friday, becoming a hurricane early in the morning as it raced toward the Caribbean Islands. Within 24 hours, Elsa went from tropical-storm strength with 40-mph winds to a Category 1 hurricane with 75-mph winds. By its maximum-sustained winds increasing by at least 35 mph within 24 hours, the storm’s strengthening just met the criteria set by the National Hurricane Centre qualifying as “rapid intensification.”
The storm weakened a little the next day after peaking in strength when its maximum sustained winds were around 85 mph. But the storm has also already caused widespread damage and power outages in the Caribbean, mostly in the islands of Barbados and St. Vincent.
%u201CElsa is expected to regain some wind intensity early this week once it passes north of Cuba and moves into the eastern Gulf. And there is a chance that conditions may be favorable for Elsa to affect Florida as a hurricane for a time during Tuesday and Wednesday,” AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Adam Douty said.
A state of emergency has already been declared by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis for 15 counties in the state ahead of Elsa’s arrival.
