(Reuters) – Tropical Storm Franklin is expected to cause heavy rains over parts of Hispaniola and Puerto Rico in the Atlantic Ocean, the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) said on Monday.
The storm was located about 250 miles (305 km) south-south-east of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, packing maximum sustained winds of 50 miles per hour (85 km per hour), the Miami-based forecaster said.
“The heavy rainfall may produce areas of flash and urban flooding as well as river rises and mudslides. Across Hispaniola, significant and potentially life-threatening flash flooding is possible Tuesday into Wednesday,” it added.
With Franklin forecast to strengthen further during the next 48 hours, a Tropical Storm Warning has also been issued for the southern coast of Hispaniola, which includes the Dominican Republic and Haiti.
(Reporting by Deep Vakil and Ananya Bajpai in Bengaluru, editing by Ed Osmond)
