Tropical Storm Elsa is now passing over the Florida Straits, after it swept across a mostly rural section of western Cuba with strong rain and winds earlier Monday, triggering flooding and mudslide warnings in the region. In the latest update on its website, the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) said conditions are beginning to deteriorate across the Florida Keys. Elsa’s maximum sustained winds strengthened to 60 mph as it moved 60 miles south-southwest of Key West at 2 a.m. Tuesday. “Some additional strengthening is forecast through tonight before Elsa moves inland over Florida,” the NHC said. Hours earlier, in a 11 p.m. update, the NHC said there is a danger of life-threatening storm surge along parts of Florida’s west coast, and that a storm surge warning has been issued for the area. The storm made landfall in Cuba on Monday afternoon near Cienega de Zapata, a natural park with few …