ST JOHN’S, Antigua and Barbuda, (AFP) – Residents of Antigua and Barbuda battened down yesterday as Hurricane Earl churned toward the Caribbean with the threat of heavy winds and storm surges.

As the islands began to experience moderately strong winds, residents shored up homes and businesses, and stocked up on essential supplies ahead of the passage of the storm near the twin-island state.

At 2100 GMT, Earl was packing winds of 85 miles (140 kilometres) per hour, gaining strength as a category one hurricane, the US-based National Hurricane Centre said.

Weather officials forecast more than five inches (13 centimetres) of rain from the storm, which is expected to pass northeast of Antigua.

Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer advised inhabitants of low-lying areas to move to higher ground or into shelters, and urged the public to take all necessary precautions.

They appeared to be following his advice: supermarkets and hardware stores reported brisk business yesterday as people rushed to get groceries, flashlights, batteries and other storm-related necessities.

Antigua’s airport — V C Bird International — was due to close late afternoon and the main airline, LIAT, cancelled all flights. Caribbean Airlines also cancelled flights to Antigua as well as to St Maarten where the Princess Juliana International Airport was ordered closed. The airline rescheduled flights to its other destinations.

Meanwhile, Antigua’s sister island, Barbuda, was also preparing for the storm.

“People… are boarding up where possible. They are predicting it will pass about 30 miles north of Barbuda,” said Fabian Jones, deputy chairman of the Barbuda Council, which runs the day-to-day affairs on the island.

The eye of Earl was located 150 miles (2450 kilometres) east of Barbuda, heading west-northwest at around 14 miles (22 kilometres) per hour.

“Strengthening is expected during the next 48 hours, and Earl is forecast to become a major hurricane by Tuesday,” the NHC said.

A hurricane warning was in effect for several eastern Caribbean islands, including Antigua and Barbuda, Montserrat and St Kitts and Nevis, the hurricane centre said. The latest updates included a hurricane warning for the British Virgin Islands and hurricane watch for the US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.

On the forecast track, the centre of Earl will curve in a northwesterly direction, passing just north of Barbuda and reaching the Virgin Islands later today.

On the French half of the island Saint Martin, extra firefighters arrived from Guadeloupe to deal with any emergency, French Overseas Minister Marie-Luce Penchard said.

The commander of French armed forces in the Caribbean was ready to airlift military personnel as needed, she added, urging locals to closely follow instructions given by public broadcaster RFO and local radio stations.

The northern half of Saint Martin is French territory, with the remainder — known as Saint Maarten — belonging to the Netherlands. Saint Bathelemy lies to the southeast.

In the next days, Earl is forecast to skirt northeast of Puerto Rico, the island of Hispaniola — comprised of Haiti and the Dominican Republic — and Cuba, although the islands are likely to be buffeted by heavy rains and strong winds from the storm.

Current forecast models have the storm reaching 600 miles (970 kilometres) east of North Carolina on the eastern US coastline early Friday, but it is unclear if it will make landfall.

PIC (saved as Hurricane Earl image)

Satellite image showing the path of Hurricane Earl over the next few days. (Photo: NOAA)