Hurricane Emily Targets Grenada, Venezuela

Packing sustained winds of 90 mph, Hurricane Emily bore down on Grenada Thursday and prompted warnings in northern Venezuela.

The storm gained strength in the eastern Caribbean late Wednesday to become the second hurricane of the season. Forecasters at the National Hurricane Center in Miami said on its present course Emily appeared to pose no threat to the United States’ mainland.

At 5 a.m. EDT, the hurricane was 45 miles west-northwest of Grenada, moving west-northwest at nearly 18 mph. The storm was expected to continue in the same general direction for the next 24 hours.

Tropical storm warnings were posted for St. Vincent and the Grenadines, while warnings for Trinidad and Tobago were discontinued.

The latest five-day forecast projects Emily will move northwest across the Caribbean off the coasts of Venezuela and Colombia Thursday and Friday, brush Jamaica Saturday afternoon and make landfall in Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula early Monday.