Tropical storms Jose, Katia upgraded to hurricane status: NHC

The National Hurricane Center has said that as Hurricane Irma tore through the Caribbean, a tropical storm in the Atlantic and another in the Gulf of Mexico were upgraded to hurricane status.

The NHC said that Hurricane Jose was 1,040 miles (1,675 kilometers) east of the Lesser Antilles in the Atlantic and packing maximum sustained winds of 75 miles per hour (120 kilometers per hour) on Wednesday.

On the five-level Saffir-Simpson scale, it was considered a Category One hurricane.

Tropical storm Katia in the southwestern Gulf of Mexico had also become a Category One hurricane, the NHC said.

It said a hurricane watch was in effect for the coast of the Mexican state of Veracruz where heavy rainfall could be expected.

Hurricane Irma, a Category Five storm further to the west, is currently battering the Caribbean and threatening Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Cuba and south Florida.

(With PTI inputs)

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