Hurricane Watch in effect for the Virgin Islands, Vieques and Culebra

SAN JUAN — A Hurricane Watch was issued for the Virgin Islands, Vieques and Culebra.

Tropical Storm Ernesto is expected to intensify as it approaches the islands later today and tonight.

The main risk remains flooding and hazardous marine conditions.

Please stay tuned for further updates

John McCarthy

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John F. McCarthy is a veteran journalist in the Caribbean, writing from the "Decision Space" where survival meets the surreal. His reporting steel was tempered by a lineage of legendary editors and broadcasters, including Ed Wynn Brant (The Bomb), Owen Eschenroder (Ann Arbor News), Lynelle Emanuel (BVI Beacon), and Charles Thanas (WSVI-TV). Alongside longtime colleague Kenneth C. "Casey" Clark, McCarthy has navigated the front lines of the territory’s history—from the 1997 volcanic "snow" to every major hurricane since Hugo. Known for leaning out of doorless helicopters to capture the "money shot," McCarthy now edits the V.I. Free Press, providing the essential link between the island's colonial past and its SpaceX future.