Tropical Storm Earl churning through the Caribbean is expected to strengthen into a Category 1 hurricane with winds of 74-95 mph prior to making landfall, reported AccuWeather, and headline writers at some news sites were already calling it "deadly."
The U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said Tuesday that Earl was threatening to bring heavy rains, flooding and high winds to Mexico, Belize and Honduras, reported The Associated Press. All three of those countries issued tropical storm warnings for some areas, and a hurricane warning was issued for parts of Mexico and Belize.
On Sunday, Earl was a weaker tropical wave but knocked down power lines and started a fire that killed six passengers on a bus in the Dominican Republic.
On Tuesday evening, the storm was centered about 350 miles east-southeast of Belize City, Belize. It had top sustained winds of 60 mph and was moving west at 16 mph.
The Washington Post said the center should reach Belize or the Yucatan on Wednesday afternoon or evening, most probably as a moderate tropical storm. After crossing the Yucatan Peninsula, it is expected to continue tracking toward Mexico’s Gulf Coast.