As Tropical Storm Ernesto gets stronger, it targets Puerto Rico while pounding the Northeast Caribbean.

As Tropical Storm Ernesto gets stronger, it targets Puerto Rico while pounding the Northeast Caribbean.

Puerto Rico’s San Juan—As Tropical Storm Ernesto made landfall in Puerto Rico on Tuesday, authorities there shuttered schools, set up shelters, and relocated scores of the island’s threatened parrots into hurricane-proof rooms.

As Ernesto’s center approaches Bermuda from about northeast of Puerto Rico, it is predicted to intensify into a hurricane by late Tuesday. A hurricane watch was issued by forecasters for the British Virgin Islands, the United States, and the small, tourist-friendly Puerto Rican islands of Vieques and Culebra.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami stated that a hurricane watch is still in effect since there is a possibility that Ernesto will strengthen into a hurricane when it is close to the Virgin Islands. tropical depression hurricane Center in Miami said. Tropical storm warnings were in place for Puerto Rico, St. Kitts, Nevis, Anguilla, St. Martin, St. Barts and St. Maarten

The storm’s center is expected to pass over the U.S. Virgin Islands on Tuesday evening and pass just northeast and north of Puerto Rico late Tuesday and early Wednesday. It is then expected to move into open waters and be near Bermuda on Friday.