| HAMILTON,
Bermuda (Reuters) - Two cruise ships departed Bermuda early
and a third canceled its visit Friday as Tropical Storm
Leslie was expected to brush past the resort island, threatening
to kick up heavy seas.
A
tropical storm warning was raised for Bermuda on Friday
and Leslie, which formed off the coast of Florida, was
anticipated to brush past the island on Saturday morning
with tropical storm force winds and 12-foot seas before
racing out into the open Atlantic and dissipating, the
Bermuda Weather Service said.
``It's
mainly going to affect our marine area, but we could get
a few periods of tropical storm force winds over the island,''
forecaster Mark Guishard said. ``This is only a tropical
storm, and we do tend to get winds of similar strength
in the winter time, with winter gales.''
Two
cruise ships departed early ahead of the storm, and a
third ship that had been scheduled to arrive on Friday
canceled its stay, Bermuda Harbor Radio said.
The
Bermuda airport had no reports of canceled flights. Leslie
was 435 miles west of Bermuda at 11 a.m. EDT, and heading
east-northeast at about 10 mph. It was expected to turn
toward the northeast over the next 24 hours, taking it
further away from the island. Maximum sustained winds
were near 40 mph, with stronger gusts.
Tropical
storm warnings were lifted along the Mexican coast as
another storm, Tropical Depression Keith, weakened as
it moved inland, the National Hurricane Center (news -
web sites) in Miami said.
Keith,
which claimed 16 lives and caused an estimated $200 million
in damage during a rampage through Central America, was
expected to dissipate as it crossed the mountains of northeastern
Mexico.
Forecasters
warned that 3-5 inches (7-13 cm)of rain were expected
in the mountains, which could trigger flash floods and
mudslides in the area.
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