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It is expected to reach more strength over the weekend before hitting the shores of the United States.
Miami – Tropical Storm Ida formed in the Caribbean on Thursday and is expected to gain Category 3 or higher hurricane strength by the time it hits the US coast in the Gulf of Mexico in the next few days.
The governments of Cuba and the Cayman Islands issued preventive notices.
Ida is set to become a hurricane once it approaches western Cuba and the southeastern Gulf of Mexico on Friday, and intensify once it reaches the northern Gulf by Sunday, the National Hurricane Center said. from the United States. The meteor’s first rains could reach US shores in the Gulf of Mexico by the early hours of Sunday.
On Thursday afternoon, Ida had maximum sustained winds of 40 mph (64 km / h) and was moving northwest at 14 mph (23 km / h). Its vortex was about 160 kilometers (100 miles) west of Negril, Jamaica, and about 205 kilometers (130 miles) southeast of Grand Cayman.
The storm is forecast to drop 6 to 12 inches (15 to 30 centimeters) of rain over parts of Jamaica, Cuba and the Cayman Islands. Forecasters warned of the possibility of flash floods, mudslides and storm surges between 60 and 100 centimeters (2 to 4 feet) above normal, as well as “destructive” swell.