Storms Swirl in Atlantic, Floods Strike Haiti
Date: 03-Sep-08
Country: BAHAMAS
Author: John Marquis
Meanwhile, a new tropical storm, Josephine, formed off Africa, behind Tropical Storm Ike. Both were moving westward as Atlantic storm activity reached a frenetic pace just as Hurricane Gustav began to dissipate on Tuesday after slamming ashore on the US Gulf Coast near New Orleans.
The flurry of storms was the latest evidence that predictions for a busier than normal season were on the mark, and was worrisome news for US oil and natural gas producers in the Gulf of Mexico, millions living in the Caribbean and on US coasts, and farmers fearing flooded fields.
The US government has forecast that 14 to 18 tropical storms will form during the six-month Atlantic hurricane season that began on June 1, compared to a historical average of 10. Tropical Storm Josephine was already the 10th, forming before the statistical peak of the season on Sept. 10.
A noted forecasting team at Colorado State University on Tuesday projected there would be four hurricanes in September, and said storm activity would be nearly twice the average for the month.
By early morning, Hurricane Hanna had weakened into a tropical storm as it swirled near Great Inagua Island in the Bahamas, but the weakening could be short-lived, the US National Hurricane Center said.
It had 70 mile per hour (110 kph) winds, just short of being a Category 1 hurricane on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale of storm intensity.
Hanna was dumping torrential rains on the southeastern Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos island, where emergency management officials warned of high seas and possible flooding on Tuesday.
In Haiti, authorities said heavy rains triggered by Hanna caused severe flooding in the northern port city of Gonaives, where thousands died four years ago during a similar catastrophe.
"The city is flooded and there are parts where the water gets to 2 meters (6.5 feet)," said civil protection director Alta Jean-Baptiste. "A lot of people have been climbing onto the tops of their houses since last night to escape the flooding."
Gonaives Police Commissioner Ernst Dorfeulle said at least 10 people had been killed in the floods.
TURN NORTHWEST
Hanna, which was expected to regain hurricane strength in about 36 hours, was expected to turn to the northwest and come ashore on the US East Coast at the end of the week somewhere between northern Florida and the Carolinas.
Hanna could approach the heavily populated Miami-Fort Lauderdale area of south Florida, but the official forecast kept the hurricane well away from there.
Tropical Storm Ike meanwhile headed westward after forming on Monday midway between Africa and the Caribbean and appeared likely to become a hurricane that would threaten the Caribbean islands and possibly the United States.
It was too early to say where Ike might go, but energy companies running the 4,000 offshore platforms in the Gulf of Mexico that provide the United States with a quarter of its crude oil and 15 percent of its natural gas will pay attention to it next week.
By 11 a.m. EDT (1500 GMT), Ike was located about 1,110 miles (1,785 km) east of the Leeward Islands and moving west at 18 mph (30 kph). Its top sustained winds had strengthened to 60 mph (95 kph) and were expected to reach hurricane strength of 74 mph (119 kph) by Wednesday.
Tropical Storm Josephine formed over the far eastern Atlantic about 125 miles (200 km) south-southwest of the Cape Verde Islands. It was moving west at 15 mph (24 kph), with top sustained winds of near 40 mph (65 kph) and was expected to be near hurricane strength on Wednesday or Thursday.
(Writing by Tom Brown; editing by Michael Christie and Frances Kerry)