Havana — Tropical Cyclone Fred is moving along the north coast of Cuba, leaving the island on Friday, heading for the Florida Keys on Saturday, and a tropical cyclone ahead of its planned orbit to southwestern Florida on Sunday. The forecaster said it could regain its condition.
Meanwhile, still east of the Caribbean, forecasters were watching tropical cyclones they said were likely to be Grace, the seventh-named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season. Tropical Cyclone Warnings occur in Antigua and Barbuda, Anguilla, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Montserrat, Saba and Sint Eustatius, Sint Martin, St. Martin and St. Barceremi. Tropical Storm Watches are valid in the British Virgin Islands, US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.
According to the Miami-based National Hurricane Center, Fred had a maximum wind speed of 35 mph (55 kph), causing heavy rains in parts of Cuba where the main threat was rain and floods. A tropical cyclone warning was issued to Florida Keys and Florida Bay on Friday morning, and surveillance was conducted in southwestern Florida.
Fred was able to regain tropical cyclone conditions on Saturday, but forecasters said the intensity was expected to change little over the next few hours.
By Monday, the Florida Keys and the entire South Peninsula were expected to rain 3-7 inches (7.5-18 centimeters), with up to 10 inches (25 centimeters) of isolated rain, according to the Hurricane Center.
Keys officials said Friday that no evacuation was planned for tourists and residents of Monroe County. The county’s emergency management authorities advise people in campgrounds, motorhomes, travel trailers, ships on board, and mobile homes to look for safe-structured shelters during storms.
Once a tropical cyclone, Fred returned to recession due to a spin over Haiti and the Dominican Republic, unable to power about 400,000 customers and flooded, causing authorities to part of the country’s water system. Hundreds of thousands of people stopped. Local officials reported that hundreds of people were evacuated and some buildings were damaged.
Fred’s center was about 175 miles (285 km) southeast of Key West, Florida, and about 45 miles (70 km) west of Caibarién, Cuba. It was still heading west-northwest at 12 mph (19 km).
The system rains 3 to 5 inches (7.5 to 12.5 centimeters) in the Dominican Republic and western Bahamas, and 1-3 inches (2.5 to 7.5 centimeters) in Haiti, the Turks and Caicos Islands, and the east. Was expected. Bahamas, Cuba.
Fred became the sixth named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season as he passed through the US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico at the end of Tuesday.
Andrea Rodriguez
