Ernesto takes aim at Caribbean

Islands through the Caribbean were bracing for Tropical Storm Ernesto today as the fast moving storm was expected to drench Guadeloupe and pass St Barts and St Martin before taking aim at Puerto Rico and the US and British Virgin Islands later today. 

Puerto Rico activated the National Guard and cancelled the start of classes in public schools as forecasters warned that the US territory would be hit by Ernesto tonight, the Associated Press reported. 

Tropical storm warnings were in effect for Puerto Rico, Vieques, Culebra, the US and British Virgin Islands, Antigua, Barbuda, Anguilla, St Kitts, Nevis, Montserrat, Guadeloupe, St Martin, St Barts and St Maarten.

The storm was located about 100 miles east of the Leeward Islands at 2am Eastern Daylight Time. It was packing maximum sustained winds of 40mph and gusts of 50mph and moving west at 25mph. 

Forecasters warned the storm is expected to unleash floods and landslides, the AP said . 

“We cannot let our guard down,” Nino Correa, Puerto Rico’s emergency management commissioner, said at a news conference.

Ernesto Morales, with the National Weather Service in San Juan, said between six to eight inches of rain are expected, with higher amounts in isolated areas. He also warned of hurricane-strength wind gusts as the storm is expected to hit northeast Puerto Rico and move across the US territory late today and early tomorrow. 

Officials also warned Ernesto would cause widespread power outages given the fragile state of Puerto Rico’s power grid, which crews are still rebuilding after Hurricane Maria struck the island in September 2017 as a Category 4 storm.

“That’s a reality,” said Juan Saca, president of Luma Energy, a private company that operates the transmission and distribution of power in Puerto Rico.

Power outages also were a concern in the neighboring US Virgin Islands for similar reasons. Even before the storm approached, officials announced island-wide blackouts on St. John and St. Thomas.

US Virgin Islands Gov. Albert Bryan Jr. urged people to take the storm seriously.

Ernesto is expected to become a hurricane early Thursday as it turns north toward Bermuda, with some forecasters warning it could strengthen into a major Category 3 storm.

The Bermuda Weather Service projected the storm would be a Category 2 storm when it passed Bermuda on Saturday. 

National Security Minister Michael Weeks said the Emergency Measures Organisation was monitoring the storm and would meet on Wednesday.

He urged residents to begin storm preparations now. 

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has predicted an above-average Atlantic hurricane season this year because of record warm ocean temperatures. It forecasted 17 to 25 named storms, with four to seven major hurricanes of Category 3 or higher.

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