Storm Hanna Lashes Haiti, Takes Aim at South Carolina

By Alex Morales and Demian McLean

Sept. 3 (Bloomberg) -- Tropical Storm Hanna lashed Haiti, the Dominican Republic and the Bahamas with torrential rains and is forecast to strengthen into a hurricane before possible landfall in South Carolina in two days.

Hanna was located near Haiti's northern coast, 105 miles (170 kilometers) southeast of Grand Inagua in the Bahamas, as of 8 a.m. Miami time, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said on its Web site. The system had 60 mph winds and was moving eastward at 5 mph, with a gradual turn northwest forecast.

``Hanna is expected to move across the southeastern Bahamas later today, and move near or over central Bahamas tomorrow,'' the center said. Rainfall of up to 15 inches (38 centimeters) in Haiti and the Dominican Republic could cause life-threatening mudslides and flash flooding, it said.

The storm killed at least 19 people in Haiti, Agence France- Presse reported. The western hemisphere's poorest nation and the neighboring Dominican Republic have been hit by Tropical Storm Fay and Hurricane Gustav in the past three weeks.

Florida declared an emergency as Hanna approached, and residents of Georgia were advised to monitor the storm's progress.

To contact the reporter on this story: Alex Morales in London at amorales2@bloomberg.net; Demian McLean in Washington at dmclean8@bloomberg.net.