Latest on Tropical Storm Erika

Forecasters have described Erika, the fifth named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, as unusually hard to predict due to disruption from wind patterns and interaction with land, which weakens a storm, as well as warm water, which adds energy.

A turn toward the west-northwest or northwest is expected tonight, with this motion continuing along with a decrease in forward speed through Sunday. Meanwhile, maintenance crews are clearing drains to handle the anticipated flood of water.

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The family of a security guard who was shot at a Metrorail station are asking for the public’s help to find the gunman responsible.

The state of Florida has already declared a state of emergency as Tropical Storm Erika gets closer to the Southeast United States.

On the eve of the 10th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, Florida is bracing for a storm that has been rather unpredictable. The latest tracking has it passing over Cuba then skirting the western coast of Florida on Sunday and Monday before the center makes landfall on Monday afternoon.

The National Weather Service has reported that Tropical Storm Erika is “wobbling” its way toward the Bahamas.

Erika is a particularly wet storm, and was expected to dump up to 8 inches (20 centimeters) of rain across the drought-stricken Caribbean.

Tropical Storm Erika is headed for the U.S. after it rampaged through the Caribbean island of Dominica, killing 12 people. Heavy rain was still affecting the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. Its winds were forecast to drop below storm strength and it was losing its structure. There are a number of factors that are being considered in the National Hurricane Center (NHC) forecast.

Latest models still lack consistency in terms of Erika’s forecasted path. As it looks this evening, Erika will likely pass over the island of Hispaniola and head towards Cuba and the Bahamas.

With unusually high waves expected, the Emergency Operations Center also closed beaches and banned vessels from leaving ports.

Division director Kim Stenson says in a statement that he hopes the storm avoids South Carolina. Interests elsewhere in eastern and central Cuba, and the southern Florida Peninsula and Florida Keys, should monitor the progress of Erika.

Meteorologists at the National Hurricane Center in Miami say several factors come into play over the next 24 hours that will determine whether Erika is little more than a rainstorm for the Sunshine State.