TS Irma to become major hurricane threatens Caribbean Islands including Dominica
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TS Irma to become major hurricane threatens Caribbean Islands including Dominica

By TDN Wire Staff

August 31, 2017 3:34 A.M

The hurricane cenetr's Cone of Probability shows a direct hit by a major hurricane on the Islands.

Roseau, Dominica (TDN) Tropical storm Irma was on Wednesday night expected to turn into a major hurricane and threaten islands of the Eastern Caribbean.

Forecasters are predicting that Irma will by Friday be packing winds of up to 120 miles per hour even as it continues to churn towards the Islands and turn into a major hurricane.

Key to the forecast is the prediction that the storm will make a hard turn to the South before making landfall. The countries ultimately affected will depend on how far South it turns. By Wednesday night there was a growing sense that it could make a direct hit on any of the countries from Barbados to the South through Dominica, Guadeloupe and Antigua to the North.

Late last night Tropical storm Irma was located at 16.4 degrees North and 31.2 degrees West or about 430 miles West of the Cape Verde Islands. Based on its current speed it is expected to be in the Region by Monday morning after becoming a hurricane on Friday while still in the Atlantic.

Although the different models of the course of the storm are not yet uniform, forecasters note that it will become better defined once the full extent of the turn South is determined.

Authorities in the Islands have begun to warn residents to be on the lookout claiming that this storm is a “once in a fifty year event.”