MIAMI – Tropical Storm Jeanne killed two people and caused significant flooding in Puerto Rico on Wednesday as it swept over the island on its way to probably becoming the season’s sixth hurricane.

A flying sheet of zinc roofing material killed a woman who ran out of her house as Jeanne’s winds tore up her roof, and a man trying to install storm shutters on his house fell to his death, according to local media reports.

Floods in low-lying areas and downed power lines were reported in the U.S. commonwealth of 4 million people, schools and airports were closed and many residents were moving away from the coastline to safer ground.

Gov. Sila Calderon ordered the electrical grid shut down throughout the island to avert fatalities, ordered public employees to stay away from their jobs until Jeanne passed and urged Puerto Ricans to stay indoors and remain calm.

Forecasters at the National Hurricane Center said Jeanne could become a hurricane late Wednesday or early Thursday.

They said it was likely to brush the northeast coast of the Dominican Republic before rolling through the Bahamas and in the general direction of Florida. But long-range forecasts – subject to large errors – suggested that Jeanne would curve away from the state this weekend and remain well offshore.

Jeanne was reported to have made landfall in Puerto Rico near the southeastern town of Yabucoa just after noon. Storm warnings were posted for Puerto Rico, the U.S. and British Virgin Islands and parts of the Dominican Republic.

A Shell petrochemical refinery in Yabucoa was shut down as waist-high floods already covered some of the nearby roads by mid-Wednesday – barely into the 24 hours of rain predicted from Jeanne.

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(c) 2004, The Miami Herald.

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AP-NY-09-15-04 2011EDT