(San Juan) A hurricane watch was issued for St. Lucia on Thursday as Tropical Storm Bret swept through the eastern Caribbean with near-hurricane strength.
Brett was Thursday morning 265 kilometers east of Barbados and was sliding west at 24 kilometers per hour. The storm was generating sustained winds of 110 kilometers per hour, on the threshold of winds of 119 kilometers per hour that would make it a Category 1 hurricane.
Airports, businesses, schools and offices have closed in Saint Lucia and Dominica, in response to meteorologists warning of torrential rains, landslides and flooding.
A tropical storm warning was in effect for Dominica, Saint Lucia and Dominica, while Barbados and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines were under a tropical storm watch. The eastern Caribbean is expected to begin feeling the storm’s impact late Thursday evening, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami.
About 25 centimeters of rain are expected between Guadeloupe and St. Vincent and the Grenadines, including Barbados, according to the hurricane center. Waves of four meters are also feared in Guadeloupe, according to local meteorologists.