Tropical Storm Hanna Lashes Haiti, May Regain Power

By Demian McLean and Aaron Sheldrick

Sept. 3 (Bloomberg) -- Tropical Storm Hanna battered Haiti, the Dominican Republic and the Bahamas as it hovered over the islands of the western Caribbean. At least 19 people were killed in Haiti, Agence France-Presse reported.

Hanna had maximum sustained winds of 105 kilometers (65 miles) per hour, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said on its Web site. The storm's eye was 59 kilometers northwest of the town of Port-de-Paix on Haiti at 1 a.m. local time today.

Hanna is the third storm to hit Haiti and the Dominican Republic in three weeks, after Hurricane Gustav and Tropical Storm Fay passed through the region. Two more storms are gathering strength over the Atlantic and heading toward the Caribbean, according to the U.S. center.

The mayor of Gonaives in Haiti appealed for help after rains flooded the city of 300,000, AFP reported. Bodies were floating in the flooded streets of Haiti's third-largest city, the news service said, citing police.

Hanna may regain hurricane status as early as today, the U.S. weather center said. The storm, moving slowly southward after being almost stationary for several hours, may start to move to the north or northwest today, it said.

Hanna may bring as much as 38 centimeters (15 inches) of rain to Haiti and the Dominican Republic, the center said.

Haiti is still recovering from Hurricane Gustav, which killed 77 people in the country, and Tropical Storm Fay, which caused the deaths of about 40 people, according to AFP.

U.S. Prepares

Florida Governor Charlie Crist declared a state of emergency today because Hanna is expected to turn back to an easterly track later this week.

It is forecast to come ashore in South Carolina on Sept. 5 after passing along the Florida coast. Hanna is threatening to drench weekend sports events including tennis at the U.S. Open in New York City and National Football League matches on Sept. 7 in Baltimore, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia.

``Swells from Hanna are expected to increase the risk of dangerous rip currents'' along beaches in the southeastern U.S., the Miami-based center said earlier.

Gustav smashed into Louisiana on Sept. 1, prompting 2 million to flee, the largest evacuation in the state's history. The state was spared the sort of damage caused by Katrina three years ago, when 80 percent of New Orleans was flooded and 1,800 people died.

Tropical storms Ike and Josephine are building over the Atlantic, with Ike located 1,500 kilometers east-northeast of the Leeward Islands, the U.S. hurricane center said in its advisory at 11 p.m. Miami time yesterday.

Ike was moving west-northwest at about 28 kph with sustained winds of almost 105 kph and is expected to become a hurricane today. The storm is forecast to track north of Hispaniola and be north of Cuba's easternmost tip Sept. 7.

Josephine, with winds close to 85 kph, was 290 kilometers west-southwest of the Cape Verde Islands, the center said. It was moving west at 19 kph.

To contact the reporter on this story: Demian McLean in Washington at dmclean8@bloomberg.net.