HAVANA (AP) — Tropical Storm Elsa swept over western Cuba with strong rain and winds Monday, and forecasters said it would move on to the Florida Keys on Tuesday and Florida's central Gulf coast by Wednesday.

The storm was moving over mainly rural areas to the east of Havana after making landfall near Cienega de Zapata, a natural park with few inhabitants.

By late afternoon, Elsa's maximum sustained winds had slowed to 50 mph (85 kph). Its core was about 45 miles (75 kilometers) southeast of Havana and moving to the northwest at 14 mph (22 kph).

"The wind is blowing hard and there is a lot of...