Hurricane Ike acquired category 4 (out of 5) on Thursday over the ocean Atlanta and became "extremely dangerous", with winds of 215 mph, reported the National Hurricane Center (CNH) U.S.. It is feared that follow the same path that Hanna, causing 61 deaths in Haiti.
In its last part, CNH said that the Ike is now on the western North Atlantic, far from the coast, and it is still premature to predict "whether any area can be affected." Hanna, the third cyclone that hit Haiti in 2008, left at least 61 dead and some 25,000 injured, in addition to the more than 100 deaths by the recent Hurricane Gustav and Tropical Storm Fay.
At least 37 people were found dead in northern Haiti, including 21 in the flooded city of Gonaives, and 7 in the neighboring towns of Saint-Marc and Gros Morne, announced on Wednesday the Haitian Civil Protection. The remaining fatalities were found in other regions, mostly in the west where there were 12 deaths and 12 other south, including two in Port-au-Prince, authorities reported.
The brunt of Hurricane raises fears of a humanitarian disaster in Haiti after warning of CNH that Ike, still far from Caribbean waters, will remain unaffected due to Hanna. In Haiti, the worst part you played in Gonaives, a city of 300,000 inhabitants to 152 km from the capital, which was completely flooded with up to three meters of water in some neighborhoods.
"We were able to rescue two dozen people who had been isolated from the roofs of their houses. Nine wounded were taken to Port-au-Prince to receive medical care," he told AFP spokeswoman for the UN mission in Haiti, Sophie Boutaud de la Combe, who lamented the bad weather. "Our helicopters can not take off, trucks and armoured vehicles can not move."
The World Food Programme (WFP), present in the poorest country in americas, chartered a boat to send 50 tons of food. This season, Haiti joined 77 deaths from Hurricane Gustav last week and about forty two weeks ago by Tropical Storm Fay. In neighbouring Dominican Republic some 7,500 people remained evacuated on Wednesday due to rains and floods of rivers, local authorities reported.
Hanna was downgraded to a tropical storm but threatens to transform itself into hurricane again before reaching U.S. shores on Saturday. "We expect a gradual strengthening in the next two days and Hanna could become a hurricane tomorrow (Thursday)," the NHC warned.
Probably increase its velocity, heading directly toward Nassau, where they are expected to arrive at noon on Thursday before playing the Grand Bahama island. In these resorts Caribbean waves could reach 1.5 meters high, he added.
Late on Wednesday, the center of Hanna was some 320 km east-southeast of San Salvador in the Bahamas and was moving at near 22 mph with sustained winds of almost 105 mph, with gusts stronger , The NHC reported.
The Government of the Bahamas issued a hurricane warning for the islands of the archipelago northwest valid until Thursday. In Freeport on Grand Bahama, tourists Apure its withdrawal and some major hotels reported an occupancy rate of only 20%.
In the U.S., strong winds forced NASA to suspend the transfer of space shuttle Atlantis to its launch pad in Cape Canaveral, Florida (southeast). The space agency said the ship will be transferred on Thursday.
Emergency services were preparing to receive Hanna, who could landfall as a hurricane at the height of the state border between Georgia and Florida. For its part, hundreds of thousands returning to their homes in Louisiana (south) after the forced evacuation due to Hurricane Gustav, which left seven dead in the southeast of the country.
