PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad (AP) - Strong gusts from a tropical wave injured four people in Trinidad and damaged the roofs of several homes as the storm moved across the southeastern Caribbean, officials said yesterday.

The system, which had sustained winds of 35 mph to 40 mph, could become a tropical storm as it travelled over the Windward Islands and into the warm waters of the Caribbean, according to the National Hurricane Centre in Miami.

Barbados reported wind gusts of 51 mph (82 kph) early yesterday.

In southern Trinidad, heavy winds Wednesday caused damage to homes that forced dozens of families to seek shelter, police said. Four employees of liquid natural gas exporter Atlantic LNG suffered minor injuries during an outdoor training session, said Billson Hainsley, a company spokesman. He did not say how they were injured.

A United States military plane was dispatched to evaluate the system.

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