Tropical Storm Beryl disintegrates as it zips to Caribbean
Monday. He also urged people without sturdy roofs to move in with relatives or one of 24 government shelters that have opened. More than 1,500 power customers remain in the dark more than nine months after Maria, and some 60,000 people still have only tarps for roofs.
“I’m praying for all the brothers who are still living under a plastic roof,” said Alfonso Lugo in the southeastern Puerto Rico town of Humacao. “They’re the ones who are suffering the most now. They’re the ones who have been forgotten.”
Lugo lost his roof and two walls to Maria and was waiting for volunteers to secure his new roof before Beryl.
The hurricane center said the storm still had maximum sustained winds of 45 mph (75 kph) late Sunday afternoon. It was centered 60 miles (95 kilometers) east of Martinique and was zipping west-northwestward at 26 mph (43 kph).
Forecasters warned that Puerto Rico could see winds of 15 to 25 mph (25 to 40 kph) as well as 2 to 3 inches (5 to eight 8) of rain that could cause flooding and mudslides.
The hurricane center said there was a possibility that the remnants of Beryl could regenerate into a tropical cyclone in a few days while moving across the Bahamas.
Off the U.S. East Coast, Tropical Storm Chris was centered about 180 miles (290 kilometers) southsoutheast of Cape Hatteras, with maximum sustained winds of 50 mph (85 kph). It was expected to remain almost stationary over the next few days before growing to hurricane force and moving to the northeast.