Havana (AP) — Cuba people along the southern region of the island on Sunday as a tropical cyclone Elsa hits several islands in the Caribbean, threatening to cause a deluge after at least three people have died. Prepared to evacuate.

The government opened shelters and moved to protect sugar cane and cocoa crops before the storm. The next target is Florida, where Governor Rondesantis declared a state of emergency in 15 counties, including Miami-Dade County, where high-rise condominiums were built. It collapsed last week.

Elsa was located approximately 175 miles (280 km) east-southeast of Montego Bay, Jamaica, and was accelerating west-northwest at 17 miles per hour (28 kph). According to the National Hurricane Center in Miami, the maximum wind speed was 65 mph (100 km).

The storm killed one person in Saint Lucia, according to the Caribbean Emergency Management Agency. Meanwhile, a 15-year-old boy and a 75-year-old woman died on Saturday at separate events in the Dominican Republic after the wall collapsed, according to a statement from the Emergency Operations Center.

Elsa was a Category 1 hurricane until Saturday morning, causing extensive damage to several islands in the eastern Caribbean on Friday as the first hurricane of the Atlantic season. Barbados was hit hardest by the government’s promise to find and fund temporary housing to avoid crowds in shelters during a pandemic, resulting in 62 homes completely collapsed. More than 1,100 people, including those, reported damage to their homes.

Fallen trees have also been reported in Haiti, and erosion and deforestation are widespread, making them particularly vulnerable to floods and landslides.

A tropical cyclone warning has been issued from Port-au-Prince, the capital of Jamaica and Haiti, to the southern border with the Dominican Republic. Hurricane watches have been published in the Cuban states of Camaguey, Grandma, Guantanamo, Holguin, Lastunas and Santiago de Cuba. Some of those states have reported numerous COVID-19 infections, raising concerns that storms could force large numbers of people to seek shelter together.

According to Brian McNordi, a hurricane researcher at the University of Miami, Elsa was the earliest and fifth-named storm on record, breaking the record as the fastest-moving hurricane in the tropics at 31 mph on Saturday morning. It has occurred.

Southern Hispaniola and parts of Jamaica are projected to rain 4 to 8 inches (10 to 20 centimeters), with a maximum total of 15 inches (38 centimeters).

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The Associated Press reporter Dánica Coto in San Juan, Puerto Rico contributed to this report.