Tropical storm gustav approach Dominican Republic, Haiti
Tropical Storm Gustav formed in the central Caribbean, and is heading for the Dominican Republic and Haiti as a Hurricane.
Hurricane warnings were issued for parts of the Dominican Republic and Haiti on Monday as tropical storm Gustav churned toward the island on a path that may also take it over Cuba, the Bahamas and Florida.
Gustav is packing sustained winds of 95 km/h and could strengthen to a hurricane before moving over land, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.
At 5 p.m. ET, the storm centre was 290 kilometres south-southeast of Port-au-Prince, Haiti and was moving toward the northwest at 22 km/h.
Forecasters expect Gustav to strengthen during the next 24 hours, with the storm centre moving near or over Haiti on Tuesday.
It’s expected to dump up to 180 millimetres of rain on Hispaniola, with a chance of triple that amount in some areas, which could produce deadly flash floods and mud slides.
Carnival Cruise Lines diverted one of its ships to a Mexican port instead of Montego Bay, Jamaica, to avoid the storm, a company spokesman said. Other cruise lines said they were closely tracking the storm’s path.
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