Havana, July 4 (IANS) The Cuban Civil Defense (DC) has raised the alarm level in the east of the country due to the proximity of tropical storm Elsa, which has maximum sustained winds of 110 km per hour.

The DC established the alarm starting on Saturday evening for the provinces of Guantanamo, Santiago de Cuba, Granma, Holguin, Las Tunas, Camaguey, and Ciego de Avila, reports Xinhua news agency.

Elsa, which has reached sustained winds of 120 km per hour, was considered a Category 1 hurricane, but weakened slightly on Saturday morning and was downgraded to a tropical storm.

Meanwhile, a tropical storm warning is also in effect for portions of southern Haiti, Jamaica, Cayman Brac and Little Cayman.

Elsa is the first hurricane of the 2021 Atlantic season.

It was ultimately headed for the Florida Straits and was expected to move near or over portions of the state's west coast Tuesday, federal forecasters said.

Elsa's fringe impacts, like gusty winds and outer rain bands, could near southern Florida late Sunday and into Monday, NBC News reported.

--IANS ksk/