Tropical Storm Selma hits El Salvador; Philippe eyes Florida
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador — Tropical Storm Selma made landfall on El Salvador’s coast Saturday with heavy rains and dangerous ocean swells, while Tropical Storm Philippe formed in the Caribbean and was expected to dump heavy rains across South Florida and the Keys after soaking Cuba.
The National Hurricane Center said late Saturday that Selma had largely dissipated over land, but authorities in El Salvador reported mudslides, toppled trees and rivers that threatened to top their banks.
The centre said Selma was “expected to produce torrential rains and flash floods through Sunday,” and Salvadoran Civil Defence director Jorge Melendez said the rainfall would be “strong and intense.”
Philippe, meanwhile, was moving toward the north at 29 mph (47 kph) and that motion was expected to continue followed by a turn toward the northeast early Sunday. The centre of Philippe will move off the northern coast of Cuba and into the Straits of Florida Saturday, and move across the Florida Keys or the southern tip of the Florida peninsula overnight, according to the hurricane centre.