The Bahamas braced Thursday for Tropical Storm Noel, with government officials issuing a hurricane watch for the northwestern regions of the islands, UPI reported. The National Hurricane Center in Miami said tropical storm warnings remained in effect for parts of Cuba and the Bahamas, and a tropical storm watch was in place from north of Ocean Reef to Jupiter Inlet, Fla. Forecasters said Noel was producing sustained winds near 60 miles per hour with higher gusts, and was expected to dump up to 15 inches of rain on the Bahamas. Emergency officials in the Dominican Republic said 41 people were dead and 38 more were missing after Noel hit the island nation, Dominican Today reported. The storm had displaced about 25,500 people and destroyed more than 6,000 homes. At least 20 people died in Haiti, with another 14 injured and two missing as a result of flooding and mudslides triggered by torrential rains from Noel, the Caribbean Broadcasting Corp. reported. "Up to now, we have counted 20 bodies, but the death toll could be more," Alta Jean-Baptiste, director of the Civil Protection Office, said. About 3,400 Haitians were being housed in shelters, and about 400 houses had been destroyed or damaged.
