By Brandon Elrod
Baptist Press
ALPHARETTA, Ga. — The first hurricane of the 2021 season has been named, and it’s already a record-breaker. Tropical Storm Elsa became a hurricane on July 2 in the Atlantic Ocean near Barbados, the easternmost Caribbean Island.
The storm, which had been fast-moving, was projected to arrive near the shores of the Dominican Republic and Haiti by July 3. The National Hurricane Center was projecting Elsa would weaken to a tropical storm by July 4 before hitting Cuba and making U.S. landfall in Florida on July 6, though hurricanes are notoriously unpredictable.
“We are tracking and monitoring Hurricane Elsa. Currently, it is moving at a speed of about 28 mph with winds of 74 mph and gusts up to 86 mph,” said Coy Webb, Send Relief’s crisis response director who oversees national and international disaster responses.
Webb joined Send Relief in 2020 after leading Southern Baptist Disaster Relief (SBDR) in Kentucky for 13 years.
“The greatest current potential impact appears to be Haiti and Cuba with heavy rains and potential flooding,” Webb said. “The hurricane season started early this year, and it is looking like it will be an active year. We stand ready with our SBDR partners to respond when needed.” [Read more…]