Weather forecasters say Tropical Storm Emily is bearing down on the southern Caribbean and could become a hurricane in the next 24 hours.
The latest advisory from the U.S. National Hurricane Center says Emily is expected to strengthen before it hits the Windward Islands late Wednesday. Forecasters say the outer bands of the storm are already spreading over the islands.
Hurricane warnings are in effect throughout the region and tropical storm warnings are in effect for parts of Venezuela. The storm is currently packing maximum sustained winds of 95 kilometers per hour with higher gusts and is located about 425 kilometers southwest of Barbados.
This latest storm comes just days after Hurricane Dennis killed at least 26 people in Haiti and Cuba and caused billions of dollars in damage.
