Storm kills 50 in Haiti, heads for west Florida
Tourists told to leave Keys; Fay could hit late Monday as a hurricane
KEY WEST, Fla. - Flooding from Tropical Storm Fay claimed 50 lives in Haiti on Sunday, while the storm itself lashed southeastern Cuba as it moved towards Florida, where officials in the Keys opened shelters and urged visitors to leave.
In Haiti, 50 children and adults died when a bus tried to cross a river swollen with rain from Fay, adding to the toll after five deaths in Haiti and the Dominican Republic on Saturday. And a couple drowned in the Jamaican capital Kingston when their car was caught in a flooded crossing.
In Cuba, authorities evacuated dozens of low-lying communities and ordered Cubans to pay close attention to the storm, which they said could spark strong storm surges, flooding and mudslides. Winds damaged the roofs of some homes and flooded a banana plantation.
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The U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said Fay's movement has been slow and erratic in recent hours. The storm is expected to cross western Cuba late Sunday or early Monday, and pass near the Florida Keys late Monday, it said.
Cuba's government issued a hurricane warning from Havana eastward to central Sancti Spiritus province. A warning means hurricane conditions are possible within 36 hours.
Jose Rubiera, Cuba's chief meteorologist, said Fay brought gusts of wind of up to 70 mph as its center roared close to two coastal communities on the island's southern tip. He told state television that Fay is expected to strengthen but he doubted it would reach hurricane strength before moving over Cuba.
"It's raining intensely, but the wind comes and goes," said a receptionist at the Hotel Niquero, who said he was not authorized to have his name appear in the foreign press. In the city of Niquero, one of the hardest-hit areas, authorities converted a hotel into a shelter for evacuees.
Hurricane Fay by Florida?
Florida declared a state of emergency and a traffic headed out of Key West on Sunday as officials urged visitors to leave the string of low-lying islands.
Most of the islands sit at sea level and could be flooded by Fay's storm surge.
The hurricane center said Fay, the sixth named storm of the 2008 Atlantic season, could approach hurricane strength as it nears the Florida Keys, possibly making landfall along the western coast of Florida.
At 8 p.m. ET, Fay was centered about 200 miles southeast of Havana and about 265 miles south-southeast of Key West, Florida, according to the hurricane center.
Authorities said traffic was becoming heavy in the Upper Keys, where the 110-mile, mostly two-lane highway that runs through the island chain meets the mainland. The Florida Highway Patrol sent in extra troopers to assist and tolls were suspended on parts of the northbound turnpike.
Fay could start pelting parts of the Keys and South Florida late Monday or early Tuesday as a strong tropical storm or minimal hurricane. Aside from wind damage, most of the islands sit at sea level and could face some limited flooding from Fay's storm surge.
Mandatory evacuation for visitors
Officials in the Keys and elsewhere planned to open shelters and encouraged or ordered people who live in low-lying areas and on boats to evacuate. Schools in the Keys will be closed Monday and Tuesday.
Keys officials earlier Sunday had issued a mandatory evacuation order for visitors and asked those who had not yet arrived to postpone their trips. Officials said hotels and businesses won't be forced to remove visitors, but they should use common sense.
Forecasters on Sunday afternoon shifted its track a little more westward, but the Keys could still be affected. Fay was still forecast to move up the western coast of Florida, but could stay over open water longer, said Corey Walton, a hurricane support meteorologist.
Fay likely won't traverse as much of the Florida peninsula as initially thought, but the state will be affected by its winds.
And it is likely to stay well east of the oil and natural production in the Gulf of Mexico. Still, Shell Oil said it was pulling 400 workers from offshore platforms as a precaution.
Some Key West businesses began putting up hurricane shutters Sunday, but tourists and residents still strolled lazily through town, where the weather alternated from sunny to occasional downpours with light wind gusts.
