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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Tropical Storm Iris Threads A Course Through Caribbean Some Homes Flooded, But No Reports Of Heavy Damage

Associated Press

Homes were flooded by rising tides and warnings were posted throughout the eastern Caribbean Saturday as Tropical Storm Iris slipped between the islands of Martinique and Dominica.

By late afternoon, the storm was headed toward the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, but there was no guarantee it would stay on that path.

Storm warnings were dropped for St. Lucia and other Eastern Caribbean islands south of Martinique.

But islands northwest of Iris kept alert, among them Dominica, St. Kitts-Nevis, Antigua and Barbuda, Montserrat, St. Maarten and Anguilla.

The storm did not hit land with full force as predicted, but as it approached just north of Martinique, residents boarded windows and stocked up on food and candles.

Authorities reopened Lamentin International Airport, closed on Friday, but urged people to stay indoors.

There were no reports of major damage on any of the islands, although some homes were flooded by rising tides.

Gusting winds, high seas and rain pounded St. Vincent and the Grenadines to the south.

A small pilot launch belonging to the St. Vincent Port Authority sank in the Kingstown Harbor as nine-foot swells washed over the piers.

Small craft were anchored off-shore and taken to more sheltered harbors.

Two passenger ferries that connect St. Vincent and Bequia, the largest of the Grenadine islands, canceled service for the day.

The airport was open, but several flights were canceled to islands closer to the main storm.

In St. Lucia, 25 miles south of Martinique, many people took to the streets - and some thrill-seekers boarded boats to venture into the choppy seas.

“St. Lucians like living close to the edge,” said Tom Mayers, a printer in the capital, Castries.

In the early afternoon, the storm was squeezing between Martinique and Dominica into the eastern Caribbean Sea.

The National Hurricane Center in Coral Gables, Fla., said Iris was packing sustained winds of 45 mph.

Forecasters did not expect much change in strength over the next 24 hours as Iris moves to the northwest at at 6 mph.

Storm warnings were extended northwestward all the way to the British Virgin Islands. The U.S. Virgin Islands were urged to keep watch by the hurricane center, which said Puerto Rico might be placed on storm watch status by today.

Iris was expected to hit the islands of the southern Caribbean on Friday night, but stalled a few miles offshore, then resumed its course in the morning.

On Montserrat, 140 miles northwest of Martinique, fears of heavy rains and winds from the storm, coupled with the threat of a newly active volcano, prompted the government to offer free evacuation flights to neighboring islands.

Another storm, Hurricane Humberto, was far out in the Atlantic, some 1,500 miles west of Cape Verde.

In Florida, residents began to dry out after Tropical Storm Jerry’s drenching rains. Miami Beach, virtually deserted during the week, slowly filled up with sun worshipers Saturday.

Rains in Tampa, Fla. were heavy enough to turn lawns into giant puddles and streets into rivers, sending residents wading to call tow trucks after their vehicles stalled on the way home.

Remnants of the storm also scattered rain over parts of Georgia and South Carolina.