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| -Short Attention Span Theater- |
| Here we go again? Tropical Storm Earl Nears Caribbean Isles |
| 2004-08-14 |
| By Associated Press August 14th, 2004, 8:05 PM EDT BRIDGETOWN, Barbados -- Tropical Storm Earl gathered strength Saturday, growing from a tropical depression as it neared several eastern Caribbean islands. Forecasters said Earl could strengthen to a hurricane by Monday, once it reaches the Caribbean Sea. The fifth tropical storm of the Atlantic season prompted storm warnings in the eastern Caribbean islands, from Trinidad and Tobago to St. Lucia. Earl's center was forecast to move over those islands Sunday and could become the season's third hurricane -- with winds of 74 mph or greater -- as it moves toward Jamaica and Cuba, said Robbie Berg, a meteorologist at the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami. Cuba on Friday was battered by Hurricane Charley, which killed four people. At least 41 buildings collapsed in the storm, and 200,000 people were evacuated in western and central Cuba. Saturday evening Earl had sustained winds of 40 mph and its center was located about 375 miles east-southeast of Barbados, according to the Hurricane Center. |
| Posted by:Mark Espinola |