Bermuda keeps a close eye on Tropical Storm Franklin

Bermuda residents are warily watching Tropical Storm Franklin, which is expected to build up strength as it heads over the Atlantic in the general direction of the island.

Weather forecasters are projecting that the hurricane is likely to pass to the west of the island overnight on Monday if it maintains its current projected course.

At 6am Atlantic Summer Time today, Franklin was 796 miles south-southwest of Bermuda and just east of the Turks and Caicos Islands. It was moving north at 13mph and packing winds of 52mph.

However, the storm is expected to regain strength over open water and is projected to be a category 2 hurricane by Sunday afternoon with 98mph strength winds while it is expected to increase in strength to 109mph winds by Monday.

Franklin unleashed heavy floods and landslides in the Dominican Republic yesterday after making landfall in the country’s southern region, killing at least one person and leaving two others missing, the Associated Press reported.

The storm began to slowly spin away late yesterday afternoon from the island of Hispaniola that the Dominican Republic shares with Haiti after dumping heavy rain for several hours.

Forecasters warned the storm could drop up to 12 inches of rain in the Dominican Republic, with a maximum of 16 inches for the country’s western and central regions. Meanwhile, up to 4 inches of rain were forecast for Haiti, with nearly 8 inches for the country’s eastern regions.

Franklin is the latest tropical system to make landfall in 2023 as the hurricane season intensifies.
Hilary, the first tropical storm to hit Southern California in 84 years, flooded roads, toppled trees and prompted flood watches and warnings in half a dozen states on Sunday.

Hilary first slammed into Mexico’s arid Baja California Peninsula as a hurricane, causing one death and widespread flooding before becoming a tropical storm, one of several potentially catastrophic natural events affecting California on Sunday.