Hurricane Elsa races towards Haiti amid fears of landslides

Hurricane Elsa approaches Argyle, St Vincent (Orvil Samuel/AP)

Hurricane Elsa is racing towards Haiti and the Dominican Republic, where it threatens to unleash flooding and landslides before taking aim at Cuba and Florida.

The Category 1 storm was located about 395 miles (635 kilometres) east-southeast of Isla Beata, Dominican Republic and was moving west-northwest at 29 mph (46 kph) on Saturday.