SAN JUAN — Tropical Storm Kirk dropped heavy rain and unleashed flooding as it passed through the eastern Caribbean on Thursday. There were no coastal watches or warnings in effect today.
Officials on the French Caribbean island of Guadeloupe closed schools on yesterday and today as a preventive measure. Rain and thunderstorms were starting to spread across Barbados.
The National Hurricane Center in Miami said that up to 10 inches of rain could fall in parts of Dominica and Martinique.
Forecasters warned of strong winds and said mudslides and flash flooding are possible.
The storm had maximum sustained winds of 45 mph and was located about 185 miles west-southwest of Martinique. It was moving west-northwest at 13 mph.
In Puerto Rico, which was badly damaged by Hurricane Maria last year and is still recovering from the storm, Kirk was expected to bring between two and four inches of rain to the eastern part of the island.
Forecasters said Kirk was expected to become a tropical depression late Friday and degenerate into a trough of low pressure by Sunday.
