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All eyes on TS Katia

Published:Wednesday | August 31, 2011 | 12:00 AM
North Carolina Department of Transportation officials Randy Boyd (left) Jerry Lindsey and Donald Lee stand on the edge of a washed out NC 12 about 8-miles south of the Bonner Bridge in the Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge on the Outer Banks of NC on Monday, August 29. They and a contract survey crew came down to assess the numerous breaches caused by Hurricane Irene. ap

MIAMI, United States (CMC):

Residents in the Caribbean were keeping an eye on Tropical Storm Katia that weather officials predict could become a hurricane by today or early tomorrow.

The Miami-based National Hurricane Centre (NHC) said that while there are no warning in effect as yet, Katia is slowly strengthening over the Eastern Tropical Atlantic.

It said the eye of Katia was located near latitude 12.3 north, longitude 33.4 west and is moving towards the west-northwest near 18 miles per hour (mph).

The storm has maximum sustained winds of 45 mph with higher gusts and NHC said that "continued gradual strengthening is forecast" and that "Katia is expected to become a hurricane by late today".

The storm is at least 630 miles of the southernmost Cape Verde Islands, and NHC has said that advisories would be issued for the North Atlantic, Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico.

Last week, Caribbean countries, including Haiti, the Turks and Caicos Islands and The Bahamas felt the brunt of Hurricane Irene that also hit the United States leaving death and destruction.