Elsa is coming and she is strong, says Met Director

There remained a calming silence around most of Barbados, as the country bunkered down while waiting for the arrival of Tropical Storm Elsa.

In a 2 a.m. update, Minister of Home Affairs, Wilfred Abrahams revealed the cyclone’s speed remained the same, around 25 miles per hour, and based on that momentum, would pass near the south of the island near 8 a.m. today.

Director of the Barbados Meteorological Services, Sabu Best, said the system had become much more organised during the night, and feeder bands which extended outward about 120 miles would produce thunderstorms and heavy showers this morning.

Director of the Barbados Meteorological Services, Sabu Best. (Picture by Sandy Pitt)

Around that time, the storm was just 175 miles (230 km) away.

“Elsa is coming and she is strong,” Best warned.

He added that along with the sustained 50-mile per hour winds, there could be intensive gusts associated with the storm which could lead to powerful winds and high swells along the island’s south coast.

Abrahams revealed that more people had chosen to join 26 other Barbadians in shelters across the island between midnight and 2 a.m. but the time for moving had now ended.

He advised that should anyone’s home be damaged in the coming hours, they should seek refuge at neighbours until emergency personnel could get to them.

Director of the Department of Emergency Management, Kerry Hinds, said their national emergency operations centre had remained quiet through the night, but they expected calls and reports to start coming through as the storm neared Barbados. (BA)