MIAMI (AP) — Hurricane Humberto formed Friday in the Atlantic Ocean on track to become a major hurricane, while forecasters monitored a nearby tropical disturbance that could bring dangerous weather to the southeastern United States in the coming days.
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Humberto, with maximum sustained winds of about 90 mph, was rapidly strengthening over the central Atlantic midday Friday, the Miami-based U.S. National Hurricane Center said. The storm was about 450 miles northeast of the northern Leeward Islands and moving slowly toward the northwest. Over the weekend, swells likely to cause life-threatening surf and rip currents will begin affecting portions of the northern Leeward Islands, the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico and Bermuda.
To the west of Humberto, forecasters expect a tropical disturbance currently near Hispaniola and eastern Cuba to become a tropical depression near the Bahamas over the weekend. The disturbance is described as a disorganized cluster of showers and thunderstorms.
The tropical disturbance has already brought heavy rains in the Dominican Republic on Friday, leading authorities to evacuate hundreds of people and declare a red alert in five provinces. Flooding of rivers, streams, and ravines left dozens of communities cut off by landslides and fallen bridges, including one that collapsed while a truck was crossing, killing the driver in the community of Yamasá.
Flooding in the southwestern province of Azua, one of the areas most affected by the rains, displaced at least 774 people, and 26 were being sheltered due to the overflowing of the Tábara River, Civil Defense spokesman Jensen Sánchez told The Associated Press.
There is “considerable” uncertainty about the system’s track or intensity, but there’s a significant risk for impacts from wind, rain and storm surge on the southeastern coast of the United States early next week, forecasters said Friday.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency urged residents of coastal areas in the Southeast U.S. on Thursday to pay attention as that weather system continues to develop, saying its staff “is ready to respond swiftly, if needed.”
In South Carolina, local governments along the coast were preparing for a storm Friday while acknowledging that with so much uncertainty, there might not be many impacts. In Charleston, crews were getting sand bags together, checking high water vehicles and preparing pumps to get any floodwater out of the city.
“Even though this has not formed yet, we are treating it as if we are expecting some kind of impact. That’s critical. We don’t want to downplay the scenario,” Chief Fire Marshal Michael Julazadeh said at an emergency Charleston City Council meeting Friday.
Meanwhile, the center of Gabrielle, now a post-tropical cyclone, moved away from the Azores, and the hurricane warning for the entire Portuguese archipelago was discontinued by the Azores Meteorological Service. On Friday afternoon, the storm was about 245 miles (395 kilometers) east-northeast of Lajes Air Base in the Azores.
Maximum sustained winds were near 65 mph with higher gusts. One observatory reported sustained winds of 78 mph, which would be hurricane-level.
Some strengthening was forecast through Friday night, with weakening expected over the weekend, and Gabrielle was expected to approach the Portugal’s coast by early Sunday. Swells expected to produce life-threatening surf and rip currents were expected to reach Portugal, northwestern Spain and northern Morocco on Saturday.
In the Pacific Ocean, Hurricane Narda was churning about 880 miles west-southwest of the southern tip of Baja California and heading west-northwest at 15 mph. The Category 1 storm was expected to maintain its strength on Friday before weakening over the weekend.
Swells generated by Narda were affecting southwestern and west central Mexico and Baja California Sur, forecasters said. The swells that could bring life-threatening surf and rip current conditions were expected to reach southern California over the weekend.
The story has been updated to correct that Hurricane Narda is in the Pacific Ocean, not the Atlantic.