Tropical Storm Bret hits the Caribbean Sea with heavy rain and winds

(Reuters) – Tropical Storm Bret continued its path across the eastern Caribbean islands early in the day on Friday, bringing strong winds and heavy rain.

The storm reached St Vincent and the Grenadines in the morning with winds up to 185 kilometers from the eye of the storm, the island’s weather services said in a press release.

Bret’s arrival forced more than 120 people into emergency shelters Thursday, according to Michael Burke, president of the St. Vincent and the Grenadines public information agency. The situation is “extremely volatile”, he said, and many people living near the coast have been evacuated.

The Saint Lucia government has also issued a storm warning and asked residents to stay indoors until further notice.

Some public establishments were closed in anticipation of the storm. Prime Minister Philippe Pierre announced that schools and nurseries in Saint Lucia have been ordered closed.

Martinique was placed on a hurricane red alert on Thursday with orders to stop all activity. On Friday, the prefecture placed the island in an orange alert for “heavy rain and storm” and “waves-submergence”, and a yellow alert for “winds”.

Schools are closed on the island.

(Reporting by Natalia Siniavsky; French version edited by Victor Goury-Lafont, Blandine Heinault)