Tropical Storm Irene could take aim at Florida

MIAMI: Tropical Storm Irene whipped the northern Leeward Islands with rain and squalls on Sunday as it barreled west on a track through the Caribbean that looked set to threaten Florida.

Irene, the ninth named storm of the 2011 Atlantic hurricane season, was expected to pass Puerto Rico's southern coast late Sunday and early Monday and then strengthen into a hurricane as it approached the Dominican Republic.

It would be the first hurricane of the busy, but so far not destructive, 2011 Atlantic hurricane season.

At 11 a.m. (1500 GMT), Irene had top winds of 50 miles per hour (85 kph) and was about 235 miles (375 km) east-southeast of Ponce, Puerto Rico, moving into the northeastern Caribbean sea, the US-based National Hurricane Center said.

Residents of Antigua reported rains, strong squalls and surf as the storm passed the Leeward Islands in the northeast corner of the Caribbean.

Hurricane watches and warnings were in effect in the US Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic.

Tropical storm warnings were in effect for most of the northeastern Caribbean islands, and for Haiti.

"Irene will pass near Puerto Rico tonight or early Monday and approach the Dominican Republic on Monday ... some strengthening is forecast during the next day or so and Irene could become a hurricane on Monday," the Miami-based hurricane center said.

Residents of Cuba, the Turks and Caicos Islands, the Bahamas and the southeastern United States were urged to monitor Irene's progress as the storm headed their way.

Computer forecast models showed Irene taking a northwestward path over Haiti and eastern and central Cuba and then heading toward the Florida peninsula.

Depending on its eventual path and possible turns, Irene might still pose a threat to US oil and gas installations in the Gulf of Mexico, but forecasters say it is too early to predict with certitude.

An early northward turn would bring it near the Georgia-South Carolina coast late in the week. But a later turn could keep it over the warm Caribbean waters until it reached the Gulf of Mexico, which could make it a much more powerful hurricane.

Tropical Storm Harvey, which hit the coast of Belize in Central America on Saturday, weakened earlier on Sunday to a tropical depression. But the hurricane center said it was still producing heavy rains over Guatemala and southeastern Mexico. It was expected to dissipate by Monday.

Mudslides and flooding could affect agricultural output in Central America, but this year's coffee and sugar harvests are largely complete.

Copyright Reuters, 2011