Heavy rains hit the northern Caribbean on Tuesday, and forecasters warn that a disturbance could soon turn into
Tropical Storm Fred,
after a quiet month without strong cyclones in the region.
So far
, power outages
have been reported
in Puerto Rico
, where Luma, the company in charge of the transmission and distribution system, has warned those who rely on electricity for vital medical devices to activate emergency plans.
"The Puerto Rico system continues to be very fragile," the company said, referring to the power grid that was devastated by Hurricane Maria in September 2017.
The National Hurricane Center issued a tropical storm watch for the
U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic
, where experts expected the potential cyclone to strengthen Tuesday to become the
sixth named storm of the hurricane season. from the Atlantic.
The storm has maximum sustained winds of
35 miles
(55 kilometers) per hour with stronger gusts and was 150 miles (240 kilometers) east-southeast of Ponce, Puerto Rico, according to meteorologists.
The storm is expected to dump a total of
between two to four inches
of rain over the Leeward Islands, the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, with up to six inches in some spots.
This rainfall could cause flooding in urban environments and overflow streams, as well as landslides in the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.
[A "more active than normal" hurricane season: experts give their forecast for 2021]
"The most important thing today is to be prepared,"
declared Puerto Rican Governor Pedro Pierluisi, adding that the potential of this event will not be minimized.
"We expect a lot of rain," he added.
Dominican Republic, Haiti, southeastern Bahamas, could be hit on Wednesday.
People in Florida were also asked to keep an eye on the news, although it was not yet clear where the storm could move during the week.
It's been more than a month since the fifth named storm, Hurricane Elsa, formed, but this is usually the busiest time of hurricane season.
[How and when to prepare for a hurricane or tropical storm]
The National Hurricane Center also activated a warning for Martinique, Guadeloupe, Saba and Sint Eustatius, and the north coast of Hispaniola, from Cape Francés in the Dominican Republic to Gonaives, Haiti.
The Turks and Caicos Islands and the southeastern Bahamas are also under tropical storm watch, including the Acklins, Crooked, Long Cay, Inaguas, Mayaguana and Ragged Islands.