Hurricane warning down to storm warning for Barbados

BARBADOS is no longer under a hurricane warning but a tropical storm warning.

The passage of Hurricane Elsa is expected to cause continued rainfall there.

At 8.30 am on Friday, the storm was upgraded to a category 1 hurricane and Barbados was put under a hurricane warning.

The Barbados Met Office said the hurricane was passing "just south of Barbados," and that a flash-flood warning was in effect.

But in a later update, it said, "Elsa is currently moving towards the west-northwest (290 degrees) at 44 km/hr. This motion is expected to continue during the next few days. Hurricane Elsa passed south of the island a few hours ago."

Barbadians told Newsday there have been reports of house roofs being blown away by strong winds. In addition, a tree had fallen on a house.

The flash-flooding alert remains in effect.

Additionally, there are hurricane warnings in St Vincent and the Grenadines and St Lucia. Martinique is under a tropical storm warning and Grenada under tropical storm watch.

Vincentians told Newsday it is raining in some areas while others are just overcast. There have been no reports of damage to homes there.