Tropical Storm Bret continues to pull away from the Lesser Antilles today (June 23) after a sustained onslaught of strong winds and heavy rains battered islands in the Eastern Caribbean.

Only St Vincent remains under a tropical storm warning, as authorities in Barbados, St Lucia and Martinique lifted their respective alerts overnight.

Only the Government of Barbados has issued an all-clear to its citizens, however, with officials in St Lucia urging persons not to venture outside until the storm has fully passed by mid-afternoon. Reports would suggest the islands largely emerged unscathed from Bret, barring flash flooding and minor infrastructural damage.

Meanwhile, the St Vincent Electricity Services (VINLEC) advised this morning that some 50 per cent of the mainland population is without power as nine feeder lines have stopped functioning. The National Emergency Management Organisation (NEMO) also reported an outage on the island of Bequia.

The St Vincent Meteorological Service (SVG Met) reiterated that flash flood, high-surf and small craft warnings remain in effect for the archipelago.

UPDATE 7:51 am local time: The St Lucia Electricity Services Limited (LUCELEC) is advising that it estimates loss of power to 60 per cent of the network due to the passage of Tropical Storm Bret.

Areas across the country where customers are currently without service include from Dennery to Micoud, Canaries, The Morne, Thomazo, parts of Coubaril to Sandals La Toc, Fond St. Jacques, parts of Choiseul, Laborie, Bonne Terre, Beausejour, Caye Manger, La Clery, Balata, Babonneau, Morne Du Don, Bois Patat, La Pansee, Chaussee Road, Leslie Land into parts of Marchand and Grass Street, Vieux-Fort Town and the Aupicon Gap.

According to the latest bulletin from the Miami-based National Hurricane Center (NHC), the centre of Tropical Storm Bret was located near latitude 13.4 North, longitude 63.6 West—or roughly 260 kilometres west of mainland St Vincent.

Barrelling west at 30 kilometres/hour, Bret’s maximum sustained winds are near 95 kilometres/hour, with higher gusts. Tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 205 kilometres mainly to the north of the centre.

On the forecast track, the NHC anticipates a gradual weakening of Bret as its momentum takes in further into the ‘hurricane graveyard’ over the central Caribbean Sea and the system dissipates by Saturday night or Sunday.

Record-setting Cindy roars in the Atlantic

In the meantime, Tropical Storm Cindy roared into existence around 9:40 pm last time, becoming the second name storm in June for the first time in 55 years. Cindy’s development also marks the first time in history that more than one named storm has formed in the tropical Atlantic Ocean.

While not projected to pose a direct threat to land just yet, NHC meteorologists expect Cindy to gradually intensify.

As at 5:00 am Atlantic Standard Time (AST), the centre of Tropical Storm Cindy was located near latitude 12.1 North, longitude 46.9 West—or some 1,595 kilometres west of the Leeward Islands.

Cindy is moving west-northwest at 24 kilometres/hour, packing maximum sustained winds of 75 kilometres/hour with higher gusts.

Some strengthening is forecast during the next couple of days, however, Cindy is not expected to reach hurricane territory.

Tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 95 kilometres from Cindy’s centre.