SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (Reuters) — Tropical Storm Erika weakened to a tropical depression in the northeast Caribbean on Thursday but still threatened Puerto Rico and neighboring islands with heavy rainfall, the US National Hurricane Center said.

Most government offices and schools closed early on Thursday afternoon and Puerto Rican Governor Luis Fortuno urged residents to leave flood-prone areas before the storm struck the US territory.

“We know from past experience, that this can have a significant impact for Puerto Ricans,” Fortuno said.

Erika’s top sustained winds dropped to 35 miles per hour (55 km per hour), putting it below the 39 miles-per-hour (63-km-per-hour) threshold for a tropical storm.

The center of the ragged mass of thunderstorms was about 130 miles east-southeast of San Juan, Puerto Rico, at 5 p.m. EDT.

It was moving west but was expected to turn west-northwest on a course that would take it south of Puerto Rico on Thursday night and over the Dominican Republic and Haiti in the next two days.

Forecasters warned that the system could dump 2 to 4 inches of rain on those in its path, with up to 6 inches in isolated areas.

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (Reuters) — Tropical Storm Erika weakened to a tropical depression in the northeast Caribbean on Thursday but still threatened Puerto Rico and neighboring islands with heavy rainfall, the US National Hurricane Center said.

Most government offices and schools closed early on Thursday afternoon and Puerto Rican Governor Luis Fortuno urged residents to leave flood-prone areas before the storm struck the US territory.

“We know from past experience, that this can have a significant impact for Puerto Ricans,” Fortuno said.

Erika’s top sustained winds dropped to 35 miles per hour (55 km per hour), putting it below the 39 miles-per-hour (63-km-per-hour) threshold for a tropical storm.

The center of the ragged mass of thunderstorms was about 130 miles east-southeast of San Juan, Puerto Rico, at 5 p.m. EDT.

It was moving west but was expected to turn west-northwest on a course that would take it south of Puerto Rico on Thursday night and over the Dominican Republic and Haiti in the next two days.

Forecasters warned that the system could dump 2 to 4 inches of rain on those in its path, with up to 6 inches in isolated areas.

Tags: Hurricane Season

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