Hurricane Tomas batters Caribbean

Hurricane Tomas has barrelled through a cluster of eastern Caribbean islands, after passing over Barbados where it knocked down power lines and damaged houses as a tropical storm.

The US National Hurricane Centre in Miami said Tomas strengthened on Saturday night with 90 miles-per-hour winds and was centered about 45 miles west-southwest of St. Lucia.

Tomas, the Atlantic season's 12th hurricane, is expected to drop up to 6 inches of rain in the region.

Forecasters said it could become a Category 2 storm on Monday evening and possibly reach Category 3 by midweek, with winds around 115 mph.

It was forecast to head toward Jamaica and could unleash heavy rains in southern portions of the Dominican Republic and Haiti, which is struggling to recover from a devastating earthquake and cope with a recent cholera outbreak.