Elsa makes landfall on south coast of Cuba, Tropical Storm Watch issued in Keys

FORT LAUDERDALE – Tropical Storm Elsa made landfall on the south coast of Cuba Monday afternoon, bringing flooding rains.

As of the 2 p.m. Monday National Hurricane Center advisory, Elsa was moving northwest at 14 mph with maximum sustained winds of 60 mph.

It was located about 85 miles southeast of Havana, Cuba.

While the storm system is now tracking more west, CTN News meteorologist Jaclyn St James said the worst of the weather is on the east side of the system.

“The outer bands (are) already starting to move in across parts of the Florida Straits in the Upper Keys this morning,” St James said.

FEMA announced Monday that President Joe Biden approved an emergency declaration for Florida, which means that federal emergency aid is being made available to supplement state, local and tribal response efforts to the emergency conditions for areas potentially affected by Elsa.

Cuban officials, meanwhile, evacuated 180,000 people as a precaution against the possibility of heavy flooding from a storm that already battered several Caribbean islands, killing at least three people.

Elsa is forecast to cross over Cuba by Monday night and then head northwest near Florida, where a state of emergency has been declared in 15 counties, including in Monroe County and Miami-Dade County.

Forecasters say the storm will weaken some while crossing over Cuba, but is likely to strengthen slightly as it moves toward Florida.

Elsa was the Atlantic season’s first hurricane before weakening into a tropical storm.