2 killed as tropical storm Elsa hits Dominican Republic
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Vehicles buffeted by intense rain and winds during the passage of tropical storm Elsa in Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic, on Saturday.
PHOTO: EPA-EFE
SANTO DOMINGO • Two people in the Dominican Republic have been killed after a wall collapsed due to heavy winds brought on by Elsa, officials said, though the tropical storm was slowing down as it passed between Haiti and Jamaica.
The two deaths occurred in south-west Bahoruco province on Saturday, according to the director for the Dominican Republic's centre for emergency operations.
Some flooding was reported in San Cristobal province, prompting about 100 evacuations, while waves of up to 4.3m washed debris ashore in capital Santo Domingo.
Elsa was clocking maximum sustained winds at 110kmh, but was slowing down as it passed between Haiti and Jamaica, the US National Hurricane Centre (NHC) said.
Elsa has been downgraded to a tropical storm from a hurricane, which is defined as having winds of at least 121kmh.
A weakened Elsa was expected to head towards Jamaica and portions of eastern Cuba yesterday, the NHC said.
Elsa was expected to move across central and western Cuba and head towards the Florida Strait by today, before moving near or over portions of the west coast of Florida tomorrow.
REUTERS
