SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Puerto Rico activated the Nationwide Guard and canceled the beginning of courses in public faculties as forecasters warned that the U.S. territory can be hit by Tropical Storm Ernesto, which shaped within the Atlantic Ocean on Monday.

Tropical storm warnings had been in impact for Puerto Rico, Vieques, Culebra, the U.S. and British Virgin Islands, Antigua, Barbuda, Anguilla, St. Kitts, Nevis, Montserrat, Guadeloupe, St. Martin, St. Barts and St. Maarten.

The storm was positioned about 230 miles (370 kilometers) east-southeast of Antigua late Monday. It had most sustained winds of 40 mph (65 kph) and was shifting west at 28 mph (44 kph). Ernesto is the fifth named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season.

Officers within the French Caribbean mentioned the storm was anticipated to drench Guadeloupe on Monday and cross close to St. Barts and St. Martin. The Nationwide Hurricane Heart mentioned Ernesto is forecast to maneuver over or close to Puerto Rico and the U.S. and British Virgin Islands on Tuesday night.

Forecasters warned the storm is anticipated to unleash floods and landslides.

“We can not let our guard down,” Nino Correa, Puerto Rico’s emergency administration commissioner, mentioned at a information convention.

Puerto Rico Gov. Pedro Pierluisi mentioned greater than 340 shelters throughout the island can be out there if essential and that greater than 200 personnel with the Nationwide Guard had been activated.

Ernesto Morales, with the Nationwide Climate Service in San Juan, mentioned between six to eight inches of rain are anticipated, with greater quantities in remoted areas. He additionally warned of hurricane-strength wind gusts because the storm is anticipated to hit northeast Puerto Rico and transfer throughout the U.S. territory late Tuesday and early Wednesday.

He urged folks to organize and keep alert given ongoing uncertainties over the approaching system.

“This trajectory just isn’t written in stone and will probably be altering,” he mentioned.

Officers additionally warned Ernesto would trigger widespread energy outages given the delicate state of Puerto Rico’s energy grid, which crews are nonetheless rebuilding after Hurricane Maria struck the island in September 2017 as a Class 4 storm.

“That is a actuality,” mentioned Juan Saca, president of Luma Power, a non-public firm that operates the transmission and distribution of energy in Puerto Rico.

Energy outages additionally had been a priority within the neighboring U.S. Virgin Islands for related causes. Even earlier than the storm approached, officers introduced island-wide blackouts on St. John and St. Thomas.

U.S. Virgin Islands Gov. Albert Bryan Jr. urged folks to take the storm significantly.

“It is a apply run to ensure we’re actually ready,” he mentioned, noting that the height of hurricane season is but to come back.

Ernesto is anticipated to grow to be a hurricane early Thursday because it turns north towards Bermuda, with some forecasters warning it might strengthen into a serious Class 3 storm.

The Nationwide Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has predicted an above-average Atlantic hurricane season this 12 months due to document heat ocean temperatures. It forecasted 17 to 25 named storms, with 4 to seven main hurricanes of Class 3 or greater.