A Strengthening Ernesto Is Poised To Become A Hurricane After Brushing Past Puerto Rico
August 14, 2024 3:48AM AKDT
Tourists sit on La Pared beach as Tropical Storm Ernesto passes by Luquillo, Puerto Rico, Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Alejandro Granadillo)
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Tropical Storm Ernesto is poised to become a hurricane after brushing past Puerto Rico as officials closed schools, opened shelters and moved dozens of the U.S. territory’s endangered parrots into hurricane-proof rooms.
Ernesto is expected to become a hurricane overnight as the center of the storm moves just northeast of Puerto Rico on a path toward Bermuda.
Forecasters issued a hurricane watch and tropical storm warning for the U.S. and British Virgin Islands as well as the tiny Puerto Rican islands of Vieques and Culebra, which are popular with tourists.
The storm moved over the U.S. Virgin Islands on Tuesday night.
