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Tropical Storm Emily nears Caribbean islands

Posted on: Wednesday, 13 July 2005, 11:15 CDT

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (Reuters) - Barbados prepared for a close encounter with Tropical Storm Emily on Wednesday as residents stocked up on supplies and the government opened emergency shelters and closed offices.

The fifth storm of the Atlantic hurricane season hurtled toward the Windward Islands of the eastern Caribbean, prompting storm warnings from Venezuela on the south to the French island of Martinique on the north.

Emily had 60 mph (97 kph) sustained winds and could grow to hurricane strength, with 74 mph (119 kph) winds, by the time it clears the islands, forecasters said.

At 11 a.m. EDT (1500 GMT), the center of Emily was about 165 miles southeast of Barbados and moving to the west at 20 mph (32 kph), the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.

Barbados was expected to feel tropical storm conditions by Wednesday evening. Residents put up storm shutters, filled their gas tanks and loaded up on canned goods, batteries, candles, matches and lamps as the rainy fringes of Emily moved over the island.

"Tropical storm winds go up to 70-75 miles per hour, and therefore it has the potential ... to cause significant damage," Minister of Home Affairs Mia Mottley said.

Residents of Tobago, the northern island of Trinidad and Tobago, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, St. Lucia and Grenada, which was devastated by Hurricane Ivan last year, were told to expect hurricane conditions within 24 hours.

The government of Venezuela issued a tropical storm watch from Cumana to Caracas, including islands north of that area.

On its current track, Emily was expected to clear the Windward Islands on Thursday, move quickly through the Caribbean Sea and pass south of Jamaica on Saturday. It would reach the coast of Mexico's Yucatan peninsula on Monday.

Emily followed Hurricane Dennis, which killed at least 70 people as it ripped past Haiti and Jamaica, roared over Cuba and hit the U.S. Gulf coast near Pensacola, Florida, on Sunday.

Authorities say the storm killed 44 people in Haiti, 16 in Cuba and one in Jamaica. U.S. officials say it was responsible for seven deaths in Florida, one in Mississippi and one in Georgia.

In the Gulf of Mexico, engineers were scrambling to right the world's largest semi-submersible oil platform, the $1 billion Thunder Horse, which is tilting precariously following the passing of Dennis, before another storm arrives.

Owner BP Plc said on Wednesday that the platform, which is listing 20 degrees with its lower deck almost touching the water, had become more secure overnight. Thunder Horse was planned to come on stream this year and pump 250,000 barrels of oil per day at peak, and large quantities of natural gas.

(Additional reporting by Tom Bergin in London)

Source: REUTERS

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