At the same time, the Eastern Caribbean is bracing for a "poorly organised" Tropical Depression Ana.

Tropical Storm Claudette was yesterday located near latitude 29.5° north and 85.6° west, or about 60km west-southwest of Apalachicola, Florida.

The other tropical storm - Bill - was located near latitude 12.8° north and longitude 40.0° west or about 2,315 kilometres east of the Lesser Antilles.

Last night, Tropical Depression Ana was located near latitude 15.1° north and longitude 58.8° west or about 270 kilometres east of Dominica.

The depression was moving west at 37kph. A west-northwest deviation is expected today.

The centre of the depression was expected to reach the northern Leeward Islands last night and enter the northeastern Caribbean Sea today.

Maximum sustained winds are near 55kph, with higher gusts. Little change in strength has been forecast during the next 24 hours.

Disaster officials were putting in place measures to safeguard life and property across the Eastern Caribbean, even as Ana began to dissipate yesterday afternoon.

A reconnaissance aircraft sent to monitor the storm found that Ana had become "poorly organised" and was "barely a tropical storm". The storm was still expected to dump up to six inches of rain in some places and tropical storm watches remained in effect from Puerto Rico in the north to as far south as Dominica, meaning tropical storm conditions were likely within 36 hours.