The centre of Tropical Storm Bret is expected to move across the Lesser Antilles Thursday evening into night.
By Warren Bertram
A hurricane watch has been issued for St. Lucia as Tropical Storm Bret barrels towards the eastern Caribbean island at near-hurricane strength.
Airports, businesses, schools and offices on the island have been closed.
Other islands within the region have been experiencing violent winds and rain.
In Dominica, forecasters have warned of torrential downpours, landslides, and flooding.
A Tropical Storm Watch is in effect for Barbados and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
Tropical Storm Bret was located about 321 kilometres east of Barbados earlier Thursday morning and was moving west.
It had maximum sustained winds of 110 kilometres per hour, just below the 119 killometres per hour mark for it be declared a Category 1 hurricane.
On the forecast track, the centre of Bret is expected to move across the Lesser Antilles Thursday evening into night.
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