Islands Brace For Arrival of Hurricane Earl, U.S. East Coast In The Crosshairs

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Antigua and Barmbuda brace for arrival of Hurricane Earl - Chicago International Travel | Examiner.com: "A strengthening Hurricane Earl was nearing the Caribbean islands of Antigua and Barmuda late Sunday afternoon and islanders were preparing to deal with potential flooding and damaging winds.

At 4 p.m. CDT, Earl was 150 miles east of Barmuda and moving to the west-northwest at 14 mph. It appeared the storm might track just to the north of the island, but hurricane-force winds extend out up to 45 miles from the center of Earl.

The National Hurricane Center in Miami reported Earl had maximum sustained winds of 85 mph, with higher gusts. Forecasters expect the storm to continue to intensify and become a major hurricane tomorrow.

Earl is expected to bring three to five inches of rainfall to the Northern Leeward Islands, with some spots picking up as much as eight inches. The rainfall may be very heavy and occur in a short period of time.

'The likelihood for flooding is therefore going to be high,' Leonard Josiah of the Antigua and Barbuda Met Office told the Antigua Observer newspaper..."