The National Meteorology Office said on 28 August that hurricane Edouard is not a threat to the D.R., some 580 kilometers northeast of Puerto Rico. Fran, the sixth tropical storm reported this year, was 300 kilometers east of the Lower Antilles, moving west-northwest at 20 kilometers per hour. Based on the latest forecast of its likely track, this hurricane is following the path of Edouard, and will pass a safe distance north of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands on 31 August. The seventh tropical storm of the year, Gustav was expected to reach near-hurricane strength by 1 September, yet will pass even farther north than Edouard and Fran, again posing no threat to the Caribbean.