By EFE
Aug 14, 2024, 11:46 AM EDT
Miami – Ernesto became a hurricane north of Puerto Rico on Wednesday and is threatening to cause flooding in that territory and the Virgin Islands, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC).
Ernesto has maximum sustained winds of 120 kilometers per hour (75 miles) and is moving northwest at 26 kilometers per hour (16 miles).
The system arrived in the last few hours in the area of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands with heavy rains that threaten flooding and will move away from these islands throughout the day.
The NHC stressed that tropical storm warnings remain in effect for the British and US Virgin Islands, as well as for the Puerto Rican islands of Vieques and Culebra, according to the bulletin issued at 11:00 a.m. local time (3:00 p.m. GMT).
At that time, the tropical storm was located about 280 kilometers (175 miles) northwest of San Juan, Puerto Rico, and about 1,340 kilometers (835 miles) south-southwest of Bermuda.
This is the third hurricane of the Atlantic basin hurricane season, which began on June 1 and has produced five tropical storms: Alberto, Beryl, Chris, Debby and Ernesto.
Of these, Beryl, Debby and Ernesto strengthened to hurricane status. Beryl even reached the highest category on the Saffir-Simpson scale, number five, causing destruction and death in the Caribbean and the United States.
This Atlantic hurricane season is expected to be one of the most active and intense in decades, with up to 25 storms and 13 hurricanes forming.
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