El Salvador decked by tropical storm

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 center said Selma was “expected to produce torrential rains and flash floods through Sunday,” and Salvadoran Civil Defense director Jorge Melendez said the rainfall would be “strong and intense.”

Philippe was moving toward the north-northeast at 29 mph. The center of Philippe was expected to move off the northern coast of Cuba and into the Straits of Florida on Saturday, then move across the Florida Keys or the southern tip of the Florida peninsula overnight, according to the hurricane center.

Philippe’s maximum sustained winds were near 40 mph with higher gusts. The storm was located 120 miles south southwest of the Florida Keys.

The hurricane center said the storm was “producing heavy rains across central Cuba and spreading northward over the Florida Keys and South Florida.”

Tropical storm warnings were in place for parts of Cuba and the Bahamas, and a tropical storm watch was issued for the upper Keys and southeastern Florida.