Elsa Causes Damage to Agricultural Production in St. Lucia

On Sunday night, St. Lucia's Prime Minister Allen Chastanet announced that Hurricane Elsa caused damages in his country for the equivalent of US$12.5 million.

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These damages would have occurred mainly as a result of the loss of crops and agricultural infrastructure, especially in banana production.

In addition to the economic losses to commodity exports, Hurricane Elsa caused damage to private homes and public buildings in Castries City.

While the final amount of the losses is not yet known, the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility (CCRIF) informed the St. Lucia authorities that "the island will not receive a significant pay out," as reported by Barbados Today.

After passing through other Caribbean zones over the weekend, Elsa approached Cuba on Monday following a trajectory that scientists had already foreseen.

In response, the Civil Defense declared an "alarm phase" in the provinces of Havana and Mayabeque. This happened when the center of Elsa was located about 80 kilometers south of Playa Giron.

At 9 a.m. local time, the hurricane was moving at a speed of 22 kilometers per hour. Most likely, Elsa will make landfall in Cuba on Monday afternoon and will remain in this country until tonight. Its trajectory could affect about 690,000 inhabitants in Matanzas province and about 2.2 million citizens in Havana.