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On Wednesday, Tropical Storm Bret strengthened over the eastern Caribbean island, bracing for heavy rains, landslides and flooding.
According to the National Hurricane Center in Miami, Bret was moving west at 15 mph across the Atlantic Ocean on Wednesday afternoon, with maximum sustained winds of 60 mph.
The storm was about 605 kilometers east of Barbados and was expected to strengthen until it reached near-hurricane strength by Thursday evening.
Officials on the island of Martinique and St. Lucia in the French Caribbean issued a tropical storm warning to prepare for Bret.
Tropical storm watch in effect for Barbados and Dominica.
“We all know the uncertainty with the intensity of forecasts, the movement and the impact of weather systems,” said Fitzroy Pascal at the Dominican disaster management office.
A special plane sent to investigate the storm on Wednesday found Bret had grown slightly, with tropical storm winds extending up to 100 miles from its center, forecasters said. Officials said it was too early to know where the center of Bret would pass, but they warned that up to 25 centimeters of rain was forecast from the French Caribbean island of Guadeloupe south to Grenada and Barbados.
The Guadeloupe government warned that the bad weather would start Thursday morning and continue until Friday evening, with waves reaching 3.5 meters.
Authorities have issued a warning to residents
“Be careful!” officials warned in a statement.
Antigua-based regional carrier LIAT and interCaribbean Airways said the storm will disrupt some of its scheduled flights Thursday and Friday.
Bret is expected to weaken after entering the eastern Caribbean Sea and is expected to disappear on Saturday.
WATCH | What to expect from hurricane season this year:
After several years of increased risk, Environment and Climate Change Canada estimates the average number of storms this year. But there is a risk of a potentially stronger storm.
The storm formed on Monday – an unusually early and aggressive start to the Atlantic hurricane season which begins June 1. A tropical disturbance with an 80% chance of cyclone formation follows Bret.
There is no record of June having had two hurricanes in the tropical Atlantic, according to Colorado State University meteorologist Philip Klotzbach.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicts 12 to 17 named storms for this year’s hurricane season. He said between five and nine of those storms could become hurricanes, including up to four major Category 3 or greater hurricanes.
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