Tropical Storm Fay expected to become hurricane over Cuba
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| Published on Saturday, August 16, 2008 |
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HAVANA, Cuba (AFP): Tropical storm Fay weakened Saturday after dumping heavy rains on the Dominican Republic and Haiti, but US weather experts forecast it will strengthen again and could become a hurricane as it approaches Cuba.
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| A satellite image showing Tropical Storm Fay over Puerto Rico, approaching the Dominican Republic and Haiti on August 15, 2008. NOAA image |
One person was killed and three were missing in the Dominican Republic due to the heavy rains, while thousands of people were evacuated to avoid the storm, local media reported.
Winds from the sixth storm of the Atlantic hurricane season slowed to 65 kilometers (40 miles) per hour, the Miami-based US national Hurricane Center said.
But, the center said in its 5 pm report, "Strengthening is forecast during the next couple of days, and Fay could be approaching hurricane strength as it nears Western Cuba."
At 5 pm the storm was located about 60 miles south of Guantanamo, Cuba and about 225 miles southeast of Camaguey, Cuba.
Fay was moving toward the west at 16 miles per hour, and expected to turn in a more northwesterly direction on Sunday and Monday.
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| Tropical Storm Fay 3-day forecast track. NHC/NOAA graphic |
The NHS forecasts it will skirt the island's southern coast, then the western tip of Cuba, before intensifying possibly to hurricane strength -- with sustained winds at least 75 miles an hour. It will then turn north, making landfall near Cienfuegos overnight Sunday.
After crossing Cuba Fay is then expected to head up the west coast of Florida, hitting land near Tampa on Tuesday afternoon and moving straight north into Georgia.
In the Dominican Republic, a woman drowned in a swollen creek and her two nephews and another person were missing, the Listin Diario newspaper said on its website.
More than 2,000 Dominicans were evacuated to shelters as the storm felled trees, damaged hundreds of houses and knocked out power to more than 15,000 homes, according to local news reports.
Fay, earlier, raked across Haiti, which shares the Caribbean island of Hispaniola with the Dominican Republic, and red alerts were posted along with orders to evacuate flood zones as heavy rains and winds battered much of the country.
"Most of Haiti is under heavy rains, especially in the south, with winds clocked at about 70 kilometers per hour (43 mph)," Ronald Semelfort, an official with Haiti's meteorological service, told AFP.
With the storm expected to gather strength over the open water between Haiti and Cuba, Havana warned residents in the south to brace for the storm's arrival.
Tropical storm watches were in effect for the central Bahamas, Jamaica and the Cayman islands.
In Miami, residents began descending on gas stations and supermarkets to fill up their gas tanks and stock up on bottled water and other emergency items in anticipation of Fay's arrival early next week.
Local television stations broadcast warnings about possible business shutdowns and power cuts. | | | | Reads : 402 | | | |
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