Hurricane Irene, the first hurricane of the 2011 season in the Atlantic formed in Puerto Rico, Monday morning, headed toward the southeastern Bahamas, the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) said.
Irene, located about 90 miles (140 kilometers) west-northwest of San Juan, Puerto Rico and about 125 miles (200 km) north of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, had sustained winds of 80 miles per hour (130 kmh).
Alarm hurricane in Puerto Rico, Vieques and Culebra have been replaced by a tropical storm warning, NHC said.
A hurricane watch was issued for the north coast of the Dominican Republic to Haiti's border, the north coast of Haiti from Le Mole St. Nicholas and central Bahamas.
At 9 am, Atlantic time, Irene was moving west-northwest near 14 mph (22 km / h) and this general motion is expected to continue over the next two days, the NHC said.
Irene Center will continue to move away from the north coast of Puerto Rico on Monday morning near the north coast of the Dominican Republic Monday afternoon.
(Reporting by NR Sethuraman in Bangalore)
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