By K. NANCOO-RUSSELL

Freeport News Reporter

The tropical storm warning has been discontinued for The Bahamas and the all clear has been given by the Bahamas Department of Meteorology.

The last report issued at 11a.m. yesterday by that department indicated that the centre of the tropical storm Paloma was located near Camaguey, Cuba, 150 miles west-southwest of Ragged Island and 225 miles south of New Providence.

Kirk James, meteorologist with the Freeport Weather Department, explained that the downgrade had occurred as early as 10 a.m.

"At 4 o'clock we found the system essentially stationary over Cuba, and just drifting north at one mile per hour with the winds down to 35 miles per hour, so clearly a depression," he said.

Although the report stated that Paloma was drifting north-northeast near two miles per hour and that its centre should be approaching the Central Bahamas by Monday morning, it noted that continued weakening is expected and that the storm was forecast to degenerate to a weak area of low pressure by Monday.

The Bahamas Department of Metrology noted that that alert would be the last one issued on Paloma.

With The Bahamas now in the clear from Paloma, James said the department is keeping a close eye on another weather system of concern.

"There is an area of low pressure that was located some 700 miles east of the windward islands this afternoon that's being monitored for development but upper level winds are not currently favourable so any development there would be slow to occur," he said.

The Associated Press reported that at its peak on Saturday, Paloma was a Category 4 hurricane in the Caribbean Sea with 145 miles per hour winds.

The wind speed dropped to 120 m.p.h. when Paloma hit Cuba, but it was still powerful enough to down trees and power lines, damage homes and topple a communications tower on the southeast coast of that island.

Paloma's storm surge reportedly pushed sea water up to one mile inland, and rainfall of up to 15 inches was reported in some areas. There were no storm-related deaths reported.

Paloma was the eighth hurricane and the seventeenth named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, which officially ends on November 30.

The Bahamas was mostly spared from the wrath of some of the more devastating storms Faye, Gustav, Ike and Hanna, though Mayaguana and Inagua are still in the recovery phase from their passage.

Weather officials are still stressing that residents not become complacent, because the season is not yet closed.