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| Hanna, which affected Haiti even as the impoverished Caribbean country was still recovering from Hurricane Gustav and Tropical Storm Fay, also battered the Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands with heavy rains and strong winds. There were, however, no initial reports of any deaths. | |
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, September 3, 2008 - Tropical Storm Hanna today continued its erratic motion off the north coast of Haiti where heavy rainfall caused killer floods, just a week after Hurricane Gustav took over 70 lives.
Reports indicate that around 20 people have already died and many more stranded in their communities by rising, muddy floodwaters.
Hanna, which affected Haiti even as the impoverished Caribbean country was still recovering from Hurricane Gustav and Tropical Storm Fay, also battered the Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands with heavy rains and strong winds. There were, however, no initial reports of any deaths.
Hanna's maximum sustained winds have slipped to 60 miles per hour and while the National Hurricane Centre (NHC) in Miami said little change in strength is expected today, it still has the potential to become a hurricane again by tomorrow.
At 8 am, Hanna was about 105 miles southeast of Great Inagua Island in the Bahamas and was moving eastward at about five miles per hour. It is expected that it will travel a little faster toward the northwest and move near or over the southeastern Bahamas later today before heading to the central Bahamas tomorrow.
A hurricane warning is in effect for those areas as well as the Turks and Caicos Islands; there is also a hurricane watch for the northwestern Bahamas; and a tropical storm warning remains in effect for the northern coast of the Dominican Republic as well as Haiti, from its northern border with the Dominican Republic to the capital, Port-au-Prince.
Meantime, forecasters continue to monitor two other tropical storms - Ike and Josephine.
This morning the NHC reported that while Ike had not strengthened recently, it was likely to become a hurricane during the day. Ike, packing maximum sustained winds around 65 miles per hour, was about 835 miles east-northeast of the Leeward Islands.
Josephine, which had gained strength but was still a bit weaker than Ike, was carrying maximum sustained winds near 60 miles per hour. Some strengthening has been forecast during the next 24 hours.
Tropical Storm Josephine was located around 220 miles west-southwest of the southernmost Cape Verde Islands.
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