Elsa moves over Florida Straits after battering Cuba

HAVANA: Tropical storm Elsa was moving over the Florida Straits toward the southern US state on Tuesday after battering Cuba with drenching rain and strong winds, but left the Caribbean island without major damage.

The US National Hurricane Centre reported the storm was now making its way towards the west coast of Florida at 19-km per hour with "conditions beginning to deteriorate across" the Florida Keys, the archipelago at the state’s southern tip.

A hurricane watch has been issued "for portions of the west coast of Florida," the NHC said in its latest advisory at 5 am (0900 GMT). Elsa has left a trail of destruction through the Caribbean, claiming at least three lives, and is expected to gain strength after emerging off the coast of western Cuba Monday evening.

"Slow strengthening is forecast through tonight, and Elsa could be near hurricane strength before it makes landfall in Florida," the NHC said. Over 100,000 people were evacuated from coastal or low-lying areas as the storm cut through Cuba, with the nation’s meteorological institute Insmet reporting winds of up to 100 kilometers per hour.

But its forecasted westward path meant Florida appeared set to avoid the worst of the storm, with the southwest coast of the state set to experience a glancing blow rather than the direct hit expected earlier. In Surfside, on Florida’s east coast, workers overnight used explosives in the controlled demolition of the still-standing portion of a collapsed condo building -- a job accelerated for fear Elsa might topple the structure.