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New tropical storm brews near U.S.

GEORGE TOWN (CAYMAN ISLANDS): Tropical Storm Wilma formed south of the Cayman Islands on Monday, tying the record for the most storms in an Atlantic hurricane season and following a path that could potentially menace the U.S. Gulf Coast later this week as a hurricane. Wilma is the 21st named storm of the season, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami. The only other time that as many storms formed since record keeping began 154 years ago was in 1933. Residents of the Cayman Islands braced for strong rain and gusty winds. The storm is expected to bring heavy rain in the Cayman Islands and Jamaica, with as much as 30 cm possible in some areas, forecasters said. Many islanders still had storm shutters up from last year's Hurricane Ivan, which destroyed 70 per cent of buildings on Grand Cayman, the largest island in the three-island British territory of 45,000 people. ``I still have all the supplies from the previous storms this season, basically a lot of peanut M&M's, so I am ready just in case,'' 51-year-old resident Susan Craig said. Boat owners pulled their vessels into canals and tied them up to prevent them from being tossed by heavy surf and wind. The chairman of the Cayman Islands' National Hurricane Center, Donovan Ebanks, said authorities had been monitoring the weather for several days. Wilma had top sustained winds near 64 kmph, just above the 63-kmph threshold for tropical storms. Long-term forecasts show the storm heading into the Gulf of Mexico by Thursday or Friday. — AP

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