TS Kirk causes power outages, heavy flooding in Caribbean

Tropical Storm Kirk caused power outages and heavy flooding across the eastern Caribbean and forced flight cancellations, officials said Friday.

Authorities in Barbados said they helped rescue several people from a flooded home, while school was cancelled in the nearby islands of St. Lucia, Dominica, Guadeloupe and Martinique.

Meteorologists said that up to 10 inches (25 centimeters) of rain fell in some parts of Martinique, Dominica and Barbados as they warned of flash floods and mudslides.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center also warned of heavy rains for St. Croix and eastern Puerto Rico.

Kirk had maximum sustained winds of 40 mph (65 kph) and was located about 230 miles (370 kilometers) south of San Juan, Puerto Rico. It was moving west-northwest at 14 mph (22 kph).

Late Friday night, the hurricane center said Kirk had become “an open wave over the Eastern Caribbean Sea” and that it would stop issuing advisories.

Meanwhile, Hurricane Rosa weakened slightly off Mexico’s Pacific Coast and had maximum sustained winds of 110 mph (175 kph) late Friday night. It was located 610 miles (980 kilometers) west-southwest of the southern tip of Baja California. It was moving north-northwest at 9 mph (15 kph).

It is expected to become reach the Baja California peninsula on Monday as a tropical storm. The National Hurricane Center said there were no coastal watches or warnings in effect but swells generated by Rosa were expected to cause dangerous surf and rip current conditions along portions of southwestern Mexico, the peninsula and southern California.