Dean could become hurricane by Thursday morning

MIAMI (AFP) - Tropical storm Dean, headed from the Atlantic toward the Caribbean, could become the region's first hurricane of the season overnight Wednesday, the US National Hurricane Center said yesterday.

At 2100 GMT the storm was located 1,460 kilometers (900 miles) east of the Lesser Antilles and blowing winds of 100 kilometers per hour (65 miles per hour), the Miami-based center said.

It was moving west-northwest at a speed of 35 kilometers per hour (22 mph) towards the Caribbean on a path which would cut south of the islands of Puerto Rico, Hispaniola and Cuba.

"Further strengthening is forecast during the next 24 hours and Dean could become a hurricane later tonight or early Thursday," the center said.

Meanwhile the center yesterday issued a warning for the gulf coast of Texas as tropical storm Erin inched towards landfall.

Erin reached tropical storm status at 1500 GMT yesterday. At 2100 GMT Erin's center was located about 315 kilometers (195 miles) east of Brownsville, Texas, and about 335 kilometers (210 miles) south of Galveston, Texas.

Erin was moving in a northwest direction at about 20 kilometers (13 miles) per hour and forecast to be near the lower or middle Texas coast Thursday, the center said.

The storm had maximum sustained winds of 65 kilometers (40 miles) per hour, with higher gusts. Forecasters expected it to strengthen over the next 24 hours.

Some four million people in Texas could feel Erin's effect as it makes landfall, the US Census Bureau reported.

Many more in northeastern Mexico could also feel the brunt of the storm.

The hurricane season normally extends from early June to late November, but US forecasters on August 9 warned that up to nine storms could still develop into hurricanes in the next months.

Three to five of the storms are likely to strengthen into "major" hurricanes, meaning they will pack sustained winds of at least 178 kilometers (111 miles) per hour.