(CNN) -- A tropical weather system has moved into the Atlantic from the Caribbean and is near the southeastern Bahamas, according to the National Hurricane Center. But the chance the system will become a tropical depression or storm is somewhat less than before. The center now says the system has a "medium" chance of developing into a depression or storm over the next two days. It puts the odds at 40 percent. It's still causing drenching rain and gusty winds for several hundred miles to the east, affecting the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Haiti and the Dominican Republic. The severe weather will probably spread over the Bahamas and Turks and Caicos during the next couple of days, possibly causing life-threatening flash floods and mudslides in mountainous areas, the forecast said.
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NEW: Forecasters lower odds of weather system developing into storm
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Weather system moves into Atlantic from Caribbean
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The Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico and Hispaniola have been getting heavy rains
Meanwhile, @placeholder islands have been coping with a deluge of rain.