|
Killer storm Fay powers into hurricane mode for Florida landfall
2008-08-18
HAVANA (AFP) - Florida battened down Monday as Tropical Storm Fay packed on more power on its way to becoming a full-blown hurricane, after claiming more than 40 lives in the Caribbean. The storm, already packing peak gusts of 185 kilometers (115 miles) per hour, was in the Florida Strait moving north at a leisurely 20 kilometers an hour. US landfall was expected sometime late Monday. Its tail of heavy rain was still pounding Cuba, which so far appeared to escape with little more than blown-off roofs and some flooding, but no deaths. The Dominican Republic and Haiti were not so lucky. They suffered multiple casualties. The worst incident was in Haiti, where a truck carrying around 60 passengers plunged into a swollen river, killing around half of the passengers, according to civil protection officials. Four people were killed in the Dominican Republic due to the heavy rains, with thousands evacuated, media said. One woman also reportedly died in Jamaica after her vehicle overturned in flood waters. There were fears the storm could prove even more devastating when it hits the Florida coastline and the Florida Keys, an archipelago of islands at the southern tip of the US state. A state of emergency was imposed on Florida ahead of Fay's arrival. The Miami-based US National Hurricane Center issued a hurricane warning, saying: "Preparations to protect life and property should be rushed to completion." It said the storm was powering up to into a possible category one hurricane, with storm tides up to 1.5 meters (five feet) higher than normal. Florida Governor Charlie Crist said the storm would likely have an impact over a broad area. "Tornadoes are likely in some areas tonight (Monday) and tomorrow, and maybe even into the next few days," he told a media conference. Some 500 national guard members were deployed, with another 8,500 available if needed, Crist said. In Miami, anxious residents descended on gas stations and supermarkets to grab petrol and bottled water. Television stations broadcast warnings about the risk of power cuts. In the Florida Keys, authorities ordered the evacuation of tourists and closed schools. World oil prices rose as traders worried about the potential effect of Fay on energy facilities in the Gulf of Mexico. New York's main contract, light sweet crude for September delivery, added 35 cents to 114.12 dollars a barrel after bouncing above 115 in electronic deals. Anglo-Dutch energy giant Royal Dutch Shell said that it had evacuated 425 staff from the Gulf as a precaution. In the Caribbean, countries were counting the cost of Fay's passage. Haitian civil protection officials said that, apart from the truck tragedy that killed around 30 people, rains killed seven people across the country and left three others missing. In the Dominican Republic, more than 2,000 people were evacuated to shelters as the storm felled trees, damaged hundreds of houses and uprooted power lines disrupting supplies to more than 15,000 homes, according to news reports. Cuban authorities had evacuated 15,000 people from southern coastal areas between Matanzas and Havana. They lifted alerts, but feared mudslides from the continued rain. After roaring through Florida, the storm is expected to continue north, albeit with less punch, into Georgia, although its path was unpredictable. Fay is the sixth named storm of this year's Atlantic hurricane season, which runs from June 1 to November 30.
| 
