Tropical Storm Cindy forms behind Bret in early start of hurricane season

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Tropical Storm Cindy has formed behind Tropical Storm Bret, in the first case of two storms in the tropical Atlantic in June since record keeping began, forecasters said Friday.

The historic event signals an early and aggressive start to the Atlantic hurricane season that began June 1 and whose peak usually runs from mid-August to mid-October.

Forecasters blamed unusually high sea temperatures for the rare development.

Cindy is expected to remain a tropical storm as it heads northeast into open waters.

Meanwhile, Bret brought winds, heavy rain and swells of up to 15 feet (4.5 meters) early Friday to islands in the eastern Caribbean that shut down to prepare for potential landslides and flooding.

Officials in the French Caribbean island of Martinique said they were searching for four people who apparently were aboard a lifeboat after their catamaran sank during the storm.

Power outages were reported in St Vincent and the Grenadines, with at least 130 people seeking protection in government shelters as the storm washed away one home and caused severe damage to several others, according to officials.

Authorities in Barbados said they received more than a dozen reports of damage across the island, according to the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency.

The storm's centre was west of St. Vincent and moving west into open waters at 18 mph (30 kph). Its maximum sustained winds were 60 mph (95 kph).

Airports, businesses, schools and offices closed on St Vincent, St Lucia, Dominica, Martinique and other islands by midday Thursday.

Forecasters had warned that the storm might pass directly over St Lucia, which is north of St Vincent, but its path shifted south.

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