Barbados is being battered by heavy rains and gusty winds associated with a strengthening Tropical Storm Tomas that the Miami-based National Hurricane Center (NHC) said was near hurricane strength as it heads towards the northern Windward Islands.
The Barbados government has ordered a nationwide shutdown of the island and the Director of the Department of Emergency Management Judy Thomas urged all citizens to remain indoors. She warned that weather conditions were expected to worsen.
Earlier, the regional airline LIAT and American Airlines announced that they had cancelled flights into and out of the Grantley Adams International Airport on the island's southern tip.
Radio reports said that several homes had already lost their roofs and many roads were impassible.
There were downed trees across the island as the effects of the 19th storm of the 2010 Atlantic Hurricane Season, which was located about 20 miles south of Barbados, were being felt.
The NHC said that hurricane warnings have been issued for Barbados, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, St. Lucia and the French island of Martinique, while a tropical storm warning remains in effect for Trinidad and Tobago, Grenada and Dominica.
According to the NHC, the center of Tropical Storm Tomas was located near latitude 12.9 north, longitude 59.5 west. It is moving towards the west-northwest near 15 miles per hour and “this motion is expected to continue with a gradual decrease in forward speed tonight and Sunday”.
The NHC said that the center of Tomas will pass through the northern Windward Islands on Saturday and enter the Eastern Caribbean Sea by Saturday night.
The maximum sustained winds have increased to near 70 miles per hour and the NHC said that “strengthening is forecast during the next 48 hours.
The NHC said that tropical storm conditions are occurring on Barbados and will spread across the affected region with hurricane conditions expected later on Saturday morning.
“Tomas is expected to produce total accumulations of three to five inches with possible isolated amounts of eight inches across portions of the Windward Islands and Southern Leeward Islands,” the NHC added
The Barbados government has ordered a nationwide shutdown of the island and the Director of the Department of Emergency Management Judy Thomas urged all citizens to remain indoors. She warned that weather conditions were expected to worsen.
Earlier, the regional airline LIAT and American Airlines announced that they had cancelled flights into and out of the Grantley Adams International Airport on the island's southern tip.
Radio reports said that several homes had already lost their roofs and many roads were impassible.
There were downed trees across the island as the effects of the 19th storm of the 2010 Atlantic Hurricane Season, which was located about 20 miles south of Barbados, were being felt.
The NHC said that hurricane warnings have been issued for Barbados, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, St. Lucia and the French island of Martinique, while a tropical storm warning remains in effect for Trinidad and Tobago, Grenada and Dominica.
According to the NHC, the center of Tropical Storm Tomas was located near latitude 12.9 north, longitude 59.5 west. It is moving towards the west-northwest near 15 miles per hour and “this motion is expected to continue with a gradual decrease in forward speed tonight and Sunday”.
The NHC said that the center of Tomas will pass through the northern Windward Islands on Saturday and enter the Eastern Caribbean Sea by Saturday night.
The maximum sustained winds have increased to near 70 miles per hour and the NHC said that “strengthening is forecast during the next 48 hours.
The NHC said that tropical storm conditions are occurring on Barbados and will spread across the affected region with hurricane conditions expected later on Saturday morning.
“Tomas is expected to produce total accumulations of three to five inches with possible isolated amounts of eight inches across portions of the Windward Islands and Southern Leeward Islands,” the NHC added
