Storm Fay Strengthens Over Cuba, May Hit Florida as Hurricane

By Alex Morales and Dan Hart

Aug. 18 (Bloomberg) -- Tropical Storm Fay strengthened as it plowed across Cuba, drenching the Caribbean island on a northward course that's forecast to take it to Florida, with the system strengthening into a hurricane on the way.

Fay killed four people in the Dominican Republic, the country's Emergency Operations center said on its Web site. At least seven people were killed by the storm in Haiti, Agence France-Presse said.

Fay's maximum sustained winds were 60 miles (97 kilometers) per hour shortly before 8 a.m. Miami time, 10 mph faster than three hours earlier, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said in an advisory on its Web site. The storm was located over Cuba's north coast, just northeast of the tourist resort of Varadero and about 80 miles east of Havana. Fay was 100 miles south-southeast of Florida's Key West and heading north-northwest at 12 mph.

``Some strengthening is expected as the center of Fay moves over water,'' the center said. ``Fay is forecast to be approaching hurricane strength in the Florida Keys and to become a hurricane before it reaches the Florida peninsula.''

In Haiti, dozens of people died when the truck they were traveling in plunged into a river, AFP said. The incident was initially thought to be storm-related, though the cause may not be due to Fay, the news agency said, citing authorities.

To contact the reporter on this story: Alex Morales in London at amorales2@bloomberg.net; Dan Hart in Washington at dahart@bloomberg.net