Jamaicans battened down as Tropical Storm Sandy buffeted the island island early this morning.
The storm which is now 120 miles from Jamaica will start affecting St Catherine Kingston and St Andrew and St Thomas by midday .
Its projected to cross the country as a hurricane.
At 6am Sandy had maximum sustained winds of 70 mph (110 kph) and was centered 120 miles (190 kilometers) south of Kingston. It was moving north at 14 mph (22 kph).
The storm is predicted to drop as much as 10 inches (25 centimeters) of rain, especially over central and eastern parts of Jamaica.
Some isolated spots could see as much as 20 inches (50 centimeters).
Strong waves and storm surge are also forecast.
Dangerous flash floods and mudslides could be triggered by Sandy.
Sandy , the 18th named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season is forecast to pass over or near Jamaica and then spin on into eastern Cuba by Wednesday evening.
In Cuba, authorities issued a hurricane watch for several provinces and there were intermittent rains over Haiti, where a tropical storm warning was in effect. A tropical storm watch was also posted for parts of the Bahamas, where the storm was predicted to pass Thursday.
Meanwhile, U.S. forecasters said Tropical Storm Tony had formed over the open Atlantic, but posed no threat to land. The storm had maximum sustained winds of about 45 mph (75 kph) and it was moving east-northeast at 16 mph (26 kph). Its center was 1,415 miles (2,275 kilometers) west-southwest of the Azores.
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