Miami. The storm was located 480 km southeast of the Puerto Rican capital, San Juan, early in the morning and was moving west with maximum sustained winds of 75 km/h, according to the latest bulletin from the US hurricane center (NHC).
The agency expects Ernesto to move across parts of the Lesser Antilles in the coming hours and approach the U.S. Virgin Islands, the British Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico in the evening.
Puerto Rican authorities mobilized the National Guard, suspended classes in public schools and sent non-essential employees home in anticipation of the arrival of the tropical storm.
On this Caribbean island, an unincorporated territory of the United States, the rains could leave between 76 and 150 mm of accumulated water, according to the NHC.
The U.S. center has issued a tropical storm warning for Puerto Rico, St. Kitts and Nevis, Montserrat, Antigua and Barbuda, Anguilla, St. Martin, St. Barthelemy, the U.S. Virgin Islands, the British Virgin Islands and Guadeloupe.
Ernesto could become a hurricane in the Atlantic on Thursday, the NHC said.
According to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), this year’s Atlantic hurricane season – which runs from June to November – is expected to be hectic as rising ocean temperatures increase the intensity of storms.
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– 2024-08-20 00:12:00
