Hurricane Elsa threatens Caribbean region

WASHINGTON: Tropical Storm Elsa strengthened on Friday into a hurricane threatening the Caribbean region, US forecasters said.

Rainfall, storm surge and strong winds from Elsa could affect the Florida Keys and parts of the Florida peninsula early next week but this depends on how the storm behaves this weekend when it hits large Caribbean islands, the National Hurricane Centre said.

Hurricane-related weather would be bad news for the Florida town of Surfside, near Miami, as it tries to dig out a collapsed condo building in search of survivors and bodies. Elsa is now packing maximum sustained winds of 120-km per hour as it moves northwest near Barbados, which is in the east of the Caribbean sea, the NHS said.

It is forecast to move near the southern coast of Hispaniola -- made up of Haiti and the Dominican Republic -- on Saturday. By Sunday, Elsa is forecast to move near Jamaica and portions of eastern Cuba, the center said.