Tropical Storm Erika is expected to reach South Florida by Monday. "We don't know how much of the storm will be left," said James Franklin, chief hurricane forecaster at the National Hurricane Center in Miami, according to Fox News.
Moving fast, Tropical Storm Erika is near Antigua and Barbuda early on Thursday. While disposing heavy rain along the eastern Caribbean, Erika is expected to bring her wrath to Puerto Rico by the end of the day.
All over the area, authorities have advised schools, airports and establishments such as restaurants and casinos to temporarily shut down operations and to prepare needed shelters for the coming storm. The storm is not expected to gain strength in the next two days. The officials in Antigua and Barbuda are expecting flash floods since they have had severe dry conditions brought by the drought in the Caribbean, ABC News reported.
People are not taking chances with this storm, so boats along the Shell Beach Marina have been on dry land since Saturday. "Too many times we've seen things happen that were not predicted," marina employee Caroline Davy said. Davy recalled the many people that were affected when Tropical Storm Gonzalo hit them unexpectedly last October.
"This is a fast-moving storm, and so we expect conditions to deteriorate rapidly," said Gov. Kenneth Mapp. He ordered all airports in the U.S. Virgin Islands and government offices to close until Friday.
#Erika has put the Bahamas & Florida on alert into next week: https://t.co/zrUsmk2iGc pic.twitter.com/X2wPGekGYm
— AccuWeather.com (@breakingweather) August 26, 2015
On Wednesday night, Tropical Storm Erika was located somewhere at 110 miles (175 kilometers) east-southeast of Antigua. It was observed to be moving west at 16 mph (26 kph) with maximum sustained of 45 mph (75 kph). A Tropical Storm Watch will be observed in Guadeloupe, on the north coast of the Dominican Republic from Cabo Engano to Cabo Frances Viejo, Southeastern Bahamas and Turks and Caicos Islands which means tropical storm conditions are possible around these areas within 48 hours, according to the National Weather Service.
