Before making its move northwestward out of the Caribbean, Emily will bring tropical storm conditions to portions of the northeast Caribbean Islands, including Puerto Rico by Tuesday evening.
Unfortunately, Hispaniola also lies within the projected path of Emily. The heavy rains could trigger flashing flooding and mudslides. As of late April, there were 1.5 million Haitians still living in tents, following the deadly Jan. 12, 2010 earthquake. The National Hurricane Center is forecasting between 4 and 6 inches of rain to fall over Puerto Rico, Haiti and the Dominican Republic. The image below shows the current threats to the Caribbean Islands (click to enlarge).
It is still too soon to determine if there will be direct impact on the U.S. Late this week into weekend will be the critical period.Will this tropical cyclone turn north, then northeastward safely out to sea away from the coast, or will it continue west-northwestward? It's also possible that land interaction could disrupt Emily enough to prevent it from restrengthening once emerging near the Bahamas. Assuming Emily survives, slow strengthening is expected as the system heads northward. Keep checking back with us at The Weather Channel and weather.com through the week as we update the threat level graphic below for Florida and the Bahamas.
