A strengthening Ernesto is poised to become a hurricane after brushing past Puerto Rico

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Tropical Storm Ernesto was poised to develop into a hurricane shortly after brushing previous Puerto Rico late Tuesday as officers closed faculties, opened shelters and moved dozens of the U.S. territory’s endangered parrots into hurricane-proof rooms.

Ernesto is forecast to develop into a hurricane in a single day as the middle of the storm strikes simply northeast of Puerto Rico on a path towards Bermuda. Forecasters issued a hurricane look ahead to the U.S. and British Virgin Islands in addition to the tiny Puerto Rican islands of Vieques and Culebra, that are fashionable with vacationers.

“Since there’s some likelihood of Ernesto turning into a hurricane whereas it’s close to the Virgin Islands, a hurricane watch stays in impact,” the U.S. Nationwide Hurricane Heart in Miami mentioned.

The storm moved over the U.S. Virgin Islands on Tuesday evening. After passing Puerto Rico, it’s anticipated to maneuver into open waters and be close to Bermuda on Friday.

Heavy rains started pelting Puerto Rico, and powerful winds churned the ocean right into a milky turquoise as folks rushed to complete securing properties and companies.

“I’m hoping it would go away rapidly,” mentioned José Rodríguez, 36, as he climbed on the roof of his uncle’s wood shack within the Afro-Caribbean neighborhood of Piñones on Puerto Rico’s north coast to safe the enterprise well-known for its fried road meals.

Ernesto was about 60 miles (95 kilometers) east-northeast of San Juan, Puerto Rico late Tuesday evening. It had most sustained winds of 65 mph (100 kph) and was transferring northwest at 17 mph (28 kph).

“We’re going to have lots of rain,” Puerto Rico Gov. Pedro Pierluisi mentioned as he urged folks to be indoors by early Tuesday night.

He activated the Nationwide Guard as crews throughout the island visited flood-prone areas and older residents as a part of last-minute preparations. In the meantime, Division of Pure Assets officers who work at breeding facilities for the island’s solely remaining native parrot, the Puerto Rico Amazon, moved them indoors.

Ernesto Rodríguez with the Nationwide Climate Service warned that the storm’s trajectory might change because it approaches Puerto Rico.

“We should always not decrease our guard,” he mentioned.

As intermittent rain pelted Puerto Rico’s northeast, residents in Piñones tried to squeeze in a pair extra hours of labor.

María Abreu, 25, ready fried pastries filled with shrimp, crab, rooster and even iguana meat as she waited for purchasers.

“They all the time come. They purchase them in case the ability goes out,” she mentioned.

Down the highway, Juan Pizarro, 65, picked practically 100 coconuts from palm timber swaying within the robust breeze. He had already secured his home.

“I’m prepared for something,” he mentioned.

Forecasters have warned of waves of as much as 20 toes (six meters), widespread flooding and doable landslides, with six to eight inches (15-20 centimeters) of rain forecast for Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and as much as 10 inches (25 centimeters) in remoted areas. Puerto Rico has six reservoirs that already had been overflowing earlier than the storm.

Officers in Puerto Rico warned of widespread energy outages given the crumbling electrical grid, which crews are nonetheless repairing after Hurricane Maria razed it in September 2017 as a Class 4 storm.

Juan Saca, president of Luma Power, a personal firm that operates the transmission and distribution of energy in Puerto Rico, urged folks to report blackouts: “Puerto Rico’s electrical system will not be sufficiently modernized to detect energy outages.”

Outages additionally had been a priority within the neighboring U.S. Virgin Islands for comparable causes, with blackouts reported on St. Thomas and St. John on Monday.

“Don’t sleep on this,” mentioned U.S. Virgin Islands Gov. Albert Bryan Jr., whose administration introduced early Tuesday that it was closing all faculties.

The U.S. Federal Emergency Administration Company echoed these warnings, saying residents in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands “ought to be ready for prolonged energy outages.”

Early Tuesday, Ernesto drenched the French Caribbean island of Guadeloupe, the place officers closed a number of most important roads and warned that the standard of potable water can be affected for a number of days. In the meantime, the storm downed a few timber in Antigua, and knocked out energy to a lot of the island. Ernesto additionally pressured the cancellation of dozens of flights to and from Puerto Rico.

Ernesto is the fifth named storm of this yr’s Atlantic hurricane season.

The Nationwide Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has predicted an above-average Atlantic hurricane season this yr due to report heat ocean temperatures. It forecast 17 to 25 named storms, with 4 to seven main hurricanes of Class 3 or increased.

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