Chris on Track to Be Year’s First Hurricane

Tropical Storm Chris swept through the eastern Caribbean, forcing cruise ships to change course and tourists to evacuate small islands as it threatened to become the first hurricane of the Atlantic season.

The National Hurricane Center in Miami said the storm had top sustained winds of 60 mph as it moved west-northwest past Puerto Rico and the U.S. and British Virgin Islands. Its path was still uncertain, but forecasters said it could reach Florida by the weekend and perhaps move into the Gulf of Mexico.

“I think it’s going into the Gulf,” said Joe Bastardi, chief forecaster at AccuWeather Inc. “It looks like it will be a disruptive storm, and in the worst case, a destructive storm.”