SANTO DOMINGO–Elsa’s winds weakened slightly on Saturday as the Caribbean storm churned toward Haiti and the Dominican Republic, where residents threatened by severe floods were being evacuated. The U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) said an aircraft measured maximum sustained winds at 70 miles per hour (110 kph). This downgraded Elsa to a tropical storm from a hurricane, which is defined as having winds of at least 75 mph (121 kph). Elsa was about 40 miles (70 km) south of the Dominican island of Isla Beata at 11 a.m. EST, according to the NHC. In the Dominican Republic, officials evacuated people living near rivers and creeks in coastal Barahona province as severe flooding was forecast. The capital Santo Domingo was under an extreme flooding alert too. Emergency groups said they had 2,500 centers ready for evacuated people. Haiti, which saw 31 deaths in Hurricane Laura in August, had not ordered evacuations. …
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