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Hurricane warnings were issued for the southeastern Bahamas, Haiti and the Turks and Caicos islands as Tropical Storm Tomas gained strength over the Caribbean Sea, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.
The system, with maximum sustained winds of 50 miles (85 kilometers) an hour, is forecast to strengthen into a hurricane tomorrow with winds of at least 74 mph and pass between Haiti and Cuba from 45 mph yesterday, the center said on its website shortly before 8 a.m. Miami time.
Jamaica issued a tropical storm warning, with Tomas forecast to pass to the island’s east today. Parts of Cuba and the Dominican Republic were under a tropical storm watch. As much as 15 inches (38 centimeters) of rain was forecast for Haiti and the Dominican Republic, with up to 3 inches predicted in Jamaica, the center said.
“These rains could cause life-threatening flash floods and mud slides over mountainous terrain,” the center said. “A dangerous storm surge will raise water levels by as much as 1 to 3 feet above normal tide levels in the warning area in areas of onshore winds. Near the coast, the surge will be accompanied by large and destructive waves.”
Tomas was 305 miles southwest of the Haitian capital and heading north-northwest at 6 mph, according to the U.S. center.
The system has been erratic since it developed, reaching Category 2 hurricane status over the weekend and then weakening to a tropical depression yesterday. The center said yesterday it was unlikely that Tomas would regain hurricane strength.
The hurricane center yesterday was forecasting a direct hit on Haiti, where more than 1 million people have lived in camps since an earthquake in January that killed 300,000 people and a cholera outbreak has infected thousands and killed hundreds.
Haitian President Rene Preval and Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive two days ago held an emergency cabinet meeting with aid officials to prepare for floods and mobilize shelter and food. Silvie Louchez, the Haiti country director for the American Refugee Committee, said yesterday people were “very, very reluctant to move” from camps, including Corail, which houses 7,000 quake victims and poses a high risk as it was built on a desert flood plain north of Port-au-Prince.
To contact the reporter on this story: Leela Landress in Houston at llandress@bloomberg.net; Alex Morales in London at amorales2@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Dan Stets at dstets@bloomberg.net
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