(Reuters) – Hurricane Erin, the first of the 2025 season in the Atlantic, was demoted in category 3, announced early Sunday the American Hurricane Center (NHC), while the speed of the winds carried by the storm has slightly decreased.
The hurricane was about 530 km from the southeast of the Turkish-and-Caican islands and blowed sustained winds up to 205 km.
On Saturday, the hurricane went to category 5 with sustained winds up to 240 km/h, before going to category 4.
The meteorological services of France and the Netherlands interrupted the tropical storm watch for Saint-Martin and Saint-Barthélemy, the NHC said.
On Sunday, Hurricane Erin was moving northwest to almost 22 km/h. A decrease in its speed is expected on Sunday and a turn north is scheduled for Monday and Tuesday, the NHC said.
The Erin storm should move to the east of the Turkish and Caican Islands and the Southeast Bahamas on the night of Sunday to Monday.
The swell generated by the hurricane will continue to affect certain parts of the north of the West Indies, the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Hispaniola and the Turkish and Caican Islands over the next two days, the NHC said. These swells will extend to Bahamas, Bermuda, the East Coast of the United States and Atlantic Canada at the start and mid-week.
Difficult oceanic conditions are likely to cause potentially fatal waves and ripping currents, according to the NHC.
The Bahamas, which provide certain meteorological services to the Turkish-and-Caican Islands, have issued a tropical storm watch for the British Islands located southeast.
Hurricane Erin has aroused concern about the possibility of causing or stirring forest fires if it turned into an extraropical cyclone off the coast, Andrew Siffert, main meteorologist at BMS Group said.
(Rédigé Par Rishabh Jaiswal, Preetika Parashuraman, Rajveer Singh Pardesi et bipasha dey à bangalore; Version française kate entringer)