Tropical Storm Gabrielle to drench Dominican Republic

Santo Domingo.- The U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami on Thursday said Tropical Storm Gabrielle formed in the Caribbean Sea Wednesday and is expected to drench the Dominican Republic as it heads west toward the Greater Antilles.

Forecasters said the storm centered around 110 kilometers south of San Juan, Puerto Rico is expected to veer toward the northwest and then east of the Turks and Caicos during the weekend.

Hurricane Center forecasters said the storm has top sustained winds 65 kilometers and is expected to strengthen slowly through Monday but had little chance of becoming the Atlantic season’s first hurricane.

Dominican Republic’s Emergency Operations Center (COE) issued flash flooding and mudslide warnings for the eastern part of the country, on the expected downpours.