BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (CMC) — A tropical storm warning remains in effect for Grenada and St Vincent and the Grenadines as Tropical Storm Karen moved into the south-eastern Caribbean Sea yesterday.

The Trinidad and Tobago Government has discontinued the warning even as the rains caused widespread flooding and landslides across the country.

National Security Minister Stuart Young told a news conference that the authorities were prepared for any eventuality and appealed to people not to publish false information on social media that could cause widespread fear.

In Tobago, there was video footage of flooding and roads being affected by the water.

In Grenada, the National Emergency Advisory Council has activated its operations centre, shutting down the Maurice Bishop International Airport (MBIA) and opening some emergency shelters.

It has also warned people in low-lying areas to move to higher ground because of the significant volume of rainfall expected as a result of Tropical Storm Karen.

“We can expect a lot of rain, the bulk of showers will be after the noon period,” warns Hubert Whyte, head of the Meteorological Office at the MBIA.

“With rain comes flooding and land slippages, so people in flood-prone areas should be guided accordingly,” he said.

Minister responsible for the National Disaster Management Area, Winston Garraway, said “given that in the last week or so, Grenada has been impacted with tremendous downpours, we are wary that the soil is totally saturated and any additional rain that is forecast can see flooding and landslides in certain areas”.

Garraway said that the operations at the MBIA should resume at 8:00 am (local time) today.

A tropical storm watch is in effect for the United States Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico and the British Virgin Islands.

The Miami-based National Hurricane Centre (NHC), in its latest bulletin, said that the storm, located 60 miles north of Grenada and 85 miles west southwest of St Vincent, was packing sustained winds of 40 miles per hour.

The NHC said Karen is moving towards the west north-west near 13 mph and this general motion was expected to continue yesterday.

A turn toward the northwest is forecast to occur today, followed by a turn towards the north tomorrow. On the forecast track, the centre of Karen was scheduled to move away from the Windward Islands yesterday, and then across the eastern Caribbean Sea last night and today.

Tomorrow, Karen is expected to approach Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, the NHC added.

It said that while it has sustained maximum winds of 40 mph, “little change in strength is forecast during the next 48 hours”.

But tropical storm conditions were expected through yesterday and Karen was expected to produce rainfall accumulations of up to eight inches in Puerto Rico.

It will also account for between two and five inches in the Leeward Islands and up to three inches in Barbados.

The NHC warned that these rains may cause flooding and mudslides, especially in mountainous areas.