Storm Erika soaks Caribbean, heads for U.S. East Coast

MIAMI, (Reuters) – Tropical Storm Erika strengthened as it dumped torrential rain on islands in the Eastern Caribbean and appeared to be headed for the U.S. East Coast early next week, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said today.

Erika could reach hurricane status near Florida’s east coast by Monday morning, the Miami-based government forecaster said.

Heavy rains lashed the small, mountainous island of Dominica with almost 9 inches reported at Canefield airport near the capital, Roseau.

Dominica’s Tourism Minister Robert Tonge posted photographs and video on Facebook showing widespread flooding in the capital and urged everyone to stay inside.

While forecasters can be reasonably certain of Erika’s path, its intensity is harder to predict and it could fall apart as it passes over land and battles hostile winds.

Last week the season’s first hurricane, Danny, dissipated rapidly as it reached the Caribbean.

The last hurricane to hit Florida was Wilma in October 2005.

Florida Governor Rick Scott held a statewide conference call with emergency officials, Florida National Guard, and local law enforcement. Afterward, he said 8,000 National Guard were ready to mobilize and communications had been tested in anticipation of a weekend landfall.

Douglas Charles Airport in Dominica (Facebook page of Dominica Tourism Minister Robert Tonge)
Douglas Charles Airport in Dominica (Facebook page of Dominica Tourism Minister Robert Tonge)

He urged residents, especially those who have moved to Florida in the decade since Wilma, to follow news reports. Coastal residents should lay in a three-day supply of food and water, know where emergency shelters are and check on elderly or infirm friends and relatives, Scott said.

“If they say you need to evacuate, you need to evacuate,” he said. “If you look to the history, a lot of times it’s not the storm that causes the problem, it’s the aftermath because as individuals we didn’t get prepared.”

Erika, the fifth named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, was about 125 miles (201 km) west of Guadalupe with maximum sustained winds of 50 miles per hour (80 kph) as of midday. It was expected to reach the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico by Thursday evening, then pass over the Dominican Republic on Friday and continue northwest over the Bahamas.

Tropical storm warnings were in effect for Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, St. Martin/St Maarten, St. Barthelemy, Montserrat, Antigua and Barbuda, St. Kitts and Nevis, Anguilla, Saba and St. Eustatius.

Erika was expected to produce 3 to 5 inches of rain across portions of the Leeward Islands, the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic through Friday, offering relief from a recent drought.