Tropical Storm Ernesto Intensifies Enroute Puerto Rico, Likely To Intensify Into A Hurricane

Tropical Storm Ernesto Intensifies Enroute Puerto Rico, Likely To Intensify Into A Hurricane Tropical Storm Ernesto battered the northeast Caribbean on Tuesday as it took aim at Puerto Rico, where officials closed schools, opened shelters and moved dozens of the U.S. territory's endangered parrots into hurricane-proof rooms. Ernesto is expected to become a hurricane early Wednesday as the center of the storm moves just north of Puerto Rico on a path toward Bermuda. Forecasters issued a hurricane watch for the U.S. and British Virgin Islands as well as the tiny Puerto Rican islands of Vieques and Culebra, which are popular with tourists.