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Last Updated: Feb 18th, 2008 - 14:39:01 |
A hurricane watch on Tropical Storm Chris has been relaxed in the eastern Caribbean as the storm began to lose strength over the Virgin Islands.
The Bahamian government downgraded its hurricane watch for the south-eastern Bahamas and the Turks & Caicos Islands.
The top sustained winds for the storm dropped to about 75km/h (45mph) from a high of 96km/h (60mph).
Chris, the third tropical storm of the season, is expected to pass about 100km (62 miles) north of Puerto Rico.
"Currently, we're not anticipating or forecasting Chris to become a hurricane," said Michelle Mainelli of the US National Hurricane Center.
Oil price rise
People in the Bahamas had stored drinking water and food and boarded up windows, and boat owners secured their vessels amid the hurricane threat.
Oil and gas prises rose amid fears the hurricane could damage drilling stations in the Gulf of Mexico and on the US Gulf Coast.
Forecasters are predicting up to 16 named storms and hurricanes in 2006.
This would make it an above-average year, but not as bad as last year's record-breaking season, which saw the region lashed by 28 storms, 15 of which went on to become hurricanes.
Hurricane Katrina, which hit the US Gulf Coast in August 2005, left 1,300 dead and became the country's costliest natural disaster.
The hurricane season is traditionally said to end on 30 November.
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