Tropical storm Philippe batters Caribbean with path veering towards East Coast

Tropical Storm Philippe may become a hurricane this week

Tropical Storm Philippe is churning its way through the Caribbean with heavy rainfall raising the threat of flash flooding across the British and US Virgin Islands on Wednesday.

The storm battered islands in the northeast Caribbean on Tuesday. Communities in Guadeloupe lost power and running water while schools were closed in Antigua and Barbuda, St Martin and St Barts.

On Wednesday, the Virgin Islands are expected to get one to three inches of rain with storm totals of six to 12 inches. One to two inches is expected in Puerto Rico, with storm totals of two to four inches, according to the latest update from the US National Hurricane Center (NHC).

A tropical storm watch was issued for Bermuda. Rainfall will begin to affect the island on Thursday with totals of three to six inches expected through Friday.

The “disorganised” storm system was moving northwest at 9mph (15km/h) with winds of 45mph.

Swells generated by Philippe will affect portions of the Atlantic coasts of the northern Leeward Islands, the Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico in the coming days, and reach Bermuda by late Thursday.

These conditions are likely to cause “life-threatening surf and rip currents”, NHC reported.

Philippe is forecast to turn toward the north-northwest later today, moving away from Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands before picking up speed as it moves north on Thursday and Friday.

The current path reveals the possibility that the storm will make landfall on the US East Coast early Sunday morning, somewhere in New England.

It’s possible that the tropical storm could strengthen to a hurricane later this week.

This article is being updated