At least 19 deaths in Haiti were blamed on the effects of Tropical Storm Hanna, while thousands of people in the Dominican Republic sought refuge Wednesday from the third storm in just weeks, DPA reported In Haiti, people climbed to the rooftops of their homes to remain safe in the face of flooding caused by Hanna. Ten people drowned in the central coastal city of Gonaives alone, said the news agency Haiti Press. Haitian President Rene Preval requested international after the catastrophe in the city of 300,000 people. In the Dominican Republic, schools remained closed, and the authorities of the country that shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti declared the maximum alert for 13 provinces. The center of Hanna should be moving through or just east of the central and northwestern Bahamas over the next couple of days. The centre said Hanna has sustained winds of 95 kilometres per hour with higher gusts, but noted it could regain hurricane strength Thursday or Friday. Meteorologists assume Hanna could reach the coast of the US states of Florida or South Carolina on Friday. Just a few days earlier, Hurricane Gustav left at least 90 people dead in the Caribbean, and before that it was Tropical Storm Fay that claimed several lives.
