United States weather monitors issued a hurricane watch for Florida’s western islands on Sunday as Tropical Storm Rita brewed in the western Atlantic.
”Rita is getting much better organised and strengthening as it nears the south-eastern Bahamas,” the National Hurricane Centre said in a public advisory on Sunday evening. Rita became the 17th tropical storm of the Atlantic hurricane season.
”Rita could become a category-one hurricane by late Monday,” the centre said.
”A hurricane watch is in effect for all of the Florida keys from Ocean Reef southward and westward to Dry Tortugas, including Florida Bay. The watch area will likely be upgraded to a hurricane warning later tonight [Sunday],” the centre said.
”A hurricane watch remains in effect for the north-west Bahamas. Portions of this watch area may be upgraded to a hurricane warning later tonight,” the centre added.
Cuban officials also issued a hurricane watch for Havana and nearby areas and a tropical-storm watch for Ciego de Avila, Sancti Spiritus and Cienfuegos.
Rita was located about 570km east-southeast of Nassau, the Bahamas, according to the centre, which issued a tropical-storm watch for the south-eastern tip of the Florida peninsula and the north-west Bahamas.
”A tropical-storm watch remains in effect for the extreme south-eastern Florida peninsula from Deerfield Beach southward to Florida City and continuing westward to east Cape Sable,” the centre said, adding that the area would likely be upgraded to a tropical-storm warning and possibly a hurricane watch later on Sunday.
”Rita will be moving over the eastern and central Bahamas tonight and Monday,” the centre said.
By midnight GMT on Sunday, the storm had maximum sustained winds near 85kph, and could strengthen in the next 24 hours. Rita was reported to be moving westward at about 15kph, according to the centre’s forecasts.
The storm was about 530km east-southeast of Nassau, the centre said.
A tropical-storm warning was in effect for the Turks and Caicos Islands and for the south-east and central Bahamas.
Hurricane Katrina, rated four on the Saffir-Simpson five-category scale, struck Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama on August 29, killing at least 880 people and leaving hundreds of thousands homeless.
That was followed by Hurricane Ophelia, a category-one storm, which last week touched the North Carolina coast, on the eastern US seaboard, causing some property damage and localised flooding before fizzling out at sea.
Experts say 2005 may be the worst season on record for hurricanes. The six-month season ends on November 30, and late hurricanes are typically more violent than ones earlier in the season. — AFP
