text:  Chris DeMaio, Barrel becoming the first hurricane of this year's Atlantic Tropical Cyclone season. National Hurricane Director Michael Brennan says islands near the Caribbean Sea are in its path. Barrel is expected to be a dangerous major hurricane when it moves through the windward islands late Sunday night or Monday, bringing potentially destructive hurricane force winds on the eyewall, life-threatening storm surge. We have hurricane watches and warnings in effect for the windward islands. Barrel grew rapidly from a tropical depression to a tropical storm and finally into a hurricane within 24 hours.