Haiti : Hurricane Tomas predicted to Devestate Haiti and Hurt Jamaica

Many Haitians can't or won't flee nearing storm
Jamaica, Cuba and other parts of Caribbean also at risk from Tomas

Ariana Cubillos / AP
Tens of thousands of Haitians on Thursday remained in tent cities like this one, which is at an air strip in Port-au-Prince and includes an abandoned aircraft as a shelter.
msnbc.com staff and news service reports
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti - Tens of thousands of Haitians remained in precarious tent cities on Thursday, unwilling or unable to heed warnings as Tropical Storm Tomas neared with the potential to cause flash floods and claim even more lives following the massive earthquake and now cholera epidemic.

The United Nations has warned that up to 1.5 million people — including many made homeless by the devastating January earthquake — are at risk.


The storm was expected to brush eastern Jamaica and then regain hurricane strength before passing near western Haiti early Friday with heavy rains, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami.

Haiti's government urged evacuation of the emergency camps set up after the Jan. 12 earthquake.

Unease set in among people who already lost homes and loved ones in the quake and saw their tents ripped apart in lesser storms this year.

"The tension is elevated. People are really concerned about their belongings. They're posing a lot of legitimate questions," said Bryant Castro, a American Refugee Committee staffer at the Corail-Cesselesse camp.

As the skies darkened over Port-au-Prince and roof-tarps started flapping Thursday morning, a policeman at Corail-Cesselesse shouted through a megaphone: "The hurricane is not a joke! ... You need to get out of here!"

Aid workers say the camp's location at the confluence of several streams makes it particularly vulnerable to flooding.

"We are upset because they have not told us where we are going," said Domarcand Fenel, the head of a committee of camp residents. "People believe they want to expel us."

Survivors of the earthquake have fought forced evictions, weathered storms, organized themselves into security committees, and rallied for better services and aid. Now they are being told to leave — and few have anywhere to go.

The government says more than 1,000 shelters are available, but that can refer to any building expected to stand up to high winds. The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said there is a need to identify safe potential storm shelters.

At 11 a.m. ET, the NHC put Tomas at about 125 miles south-southeast of Kingston, Jamaica, and 295 miles southwest of Port au Prince.

It had maximum sustained winds of 50 mph and was moving north-northwest at 8 mph.

A hurricane warning was in effect for Haiti, the southeastern Bahamas, the Turks and Caicos Islands and the Cuban province of Guantanamo. A tropical storm warning was issued for Jamaica.

'Dangerous' storm surge

The NHC said the storm by midday had turned north-northeast and increased its forward speed.

"On the forecast track the center will pass near Jamaica or Haiti tonight, near or over extreme eastern Cuba Friday and near or over the southeastern Bahamas late Friday," the NHC said.

It added that "some strengthening" was predicted, with tropical storm-force winds now extending up to 85 miles from the center. Hurricane conditions were expected within the areas affected by the hurricane warning by late Thursday or early Friday.

A "dangerous" storm surge was also predicted to raise sea levels from one to three feet above normal tide levels in areas where there are onshore winds, the NHC said.

"The surge will be accompanied by large and destructive waves," it added.

Tomas was forecast to bring five to 10 inches of rain to "much of Haiti and the Dominican Republic ... with possible isolated maximum amounts of 15 inches," the NHC warned, with one to three inches possible over Jamaica.

"These rains could cause life-threatening flash floods and mud slides over mountainous terrain," it said.

Three to six inches of rain were also possible over the southeastern Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands.

The U.N. also fears that Tomas will worsen a cholera epidemic that has already killed 442 people.

"The biggest fear is people being caught by high waters and the potential spread of cholera," said Nigel Fisher, the U.N. humanitarian coordinator. "People should (not) be under the misapprehension that it (the epidemic) is under control. The cholera epidemic is likely to spread."

The outbreak of the diarrheal disease has triggered another national emergency in the Western Hemisphere's poorest nation.

The storm comes as Haiti, a deforested and mountainous land vulnerable to flash floods and mudslides, is still struggling to recover from the Jan. 12 earthquake that killed more than a quarter of a million people.

Tomas has a terrifying potential to add to the country's misery. It hit the Caribbean's eastern islands as a hurricane four days ago, killing at least five people in St. Lucia before weakening.


The worst fear is a hurricane-strength storm that hits multiple regions simultaneously, overwhelming the capacity of the government and the aid community to cope, Fisher said.

"The big challenge is saving lives. If the hurricane is so huge that all over the country is hit severely ... we will really be stretched and we will have to make difficult choices about where to put scarce assets," he said.


Evacuations in Jamaica

In Jamaica, authorities were preparing shelters and urging people to evacuate from low-lying and flood-prone areas.

Jamaican soldiers would evacuate hundreds of people in the island's eastern region Thursday and move them into emergency shelters ahead of the storm, Information Minister Daryl Vaz said.


"We will be going all out to make good sense prevail," he said at a news conference Wednesday.

Most of the people who will be evacuated are squatters living along unstable gullies that often flood during heavy rainstorms.

Kareen Bennett, a forecaster with Jamaica's Meteorological Service, said heavy rains will lash the eastern region by Friday morning.

Jamaica is still struggling to recuperate from floods unleashed by Tropical Storm Nicole in late September that killed at least 13 people and caused an estimated $125 million in damage.

People who are still using boats to move about in the island's rural western regions also will be moved to shelters, said Ronald Jackson, of the emergency management office.

from msnabc news
 
Tropical Storm Brings Heavy Rains to Haiti

Heavy rains are battering Haiti in what could be the worst storm to hit the island since the January earthquake. Forecasters say Tropical Storm Tomas has gained hurricane strength and will pass through western Haiti sometime today.

There are fears the rains could trigger massive flooding, potentially spreading a cholera outbreak that has already killed over 440 people. The Haitian government has ordered the voluntary evacuation of camps for earthquake survivors in low-lying areas, but many have nowhere to go. On Thursday, Bill Read of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said the storm could maintain hurricane strength before making landfall.

Bill Read: "The next thirty-six hours are the primary threat to the area there. We’re forecasting winds to tropical storm force, possibly reaching hurricane force if Tomas intensifies as it goes through there, but the predominant threat is the heavy rain."

www.democracynow.org
 
wow how much more can they take !
I do hope the storm shift direction
Hurricane Could Worsen Cholera Epidemic in Haiti

Haiti’s President René Préval is warning that flooding caused by Hurricane Tomas could increase the spread of a deadly cholera epidemic. The outbreak has already killed 500 Haitians and sickened more than 7,000. Hurricane Tomas skirted Haiti on Friday, flooding some coastal towns, forcing thousands from their homes and soaking camps for displaced people in the capital Port-au-Prince with rain.



www.democracynow.org
 

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