(Reuters) – Tropical Storm Franklin, now over Hispaniola in the Caribbean, could be near hurricane strength over the southwestern Atlantic by Saturday, the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) said on Wednesday.
The storm, 55 miles (90 km) north-northeast of Puerto Plata in the Dominican Republic, was packing maximum sustained winds of 40 mph (65 kph), the Miami-based hurricane center said.
It was forecast to head straight north in the Atlantic off the U.S. East Coast.
(Reporting by Ashitha Shivaprasad in Bengaluru; Editing by Sandra Maler)
