Hurricane Elsa races toward Haiti amid fears of landslides before taking aim on US

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Hurricane Elsa raced toward Haiti and the Dominican Republic on Saturday, where it threatened to unleash flooding and landslides before taking aim at Cuba and Florida.

The Category 1 storm was located about 395 miles east-southeast of Isla Beata, Dominican Republic and was moving west-northwest at 29 mph. It had maximum sustained winds of 80 mph, with the hurricane expected to become a tropical storm after hitting Cuba, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami. The long-term forecast track showed it heading toward Florida as a tropical storm by Tuesday morning, but some models would carry it into the Gulf or up the Atlantic Coast.