Hurricane Tomas Brings Flooding to Haiti

Hurricane Tomas is lashing parts of Haiti, where at least one person has died as a result of the storm.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center says the storm is moving through the windward passage between Haiti and Cuba. Tomas is expected to travel near or over the western corner of Haiti as it moves northwest Friday.

The rains have caused flooding in many areas, including the camps that have been housing hundreds of thousands of people displaced by January’s earthquake.

The U.S. State Department says the Haitian government reports that 50 percent of the people in the camps left overnight before the worst of the storm hit. In Washington Friday, the acting director of the U.S. Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance said most of those people went to stay with friends and family in safe areas.

Forecasters warn that Tomas could dump up to 25 centimeters of rain in some areas, triggering life-threatening flash floods and mudslides. Haitian officials say one man drowned as he attempted to drive across a rain-swollen river.

The hurricane center is also warning of dangerous storm surges, raising water levels by nearly two-and-a-half meters and accompanied by large, destructive waves.

Officials had urged residents in at-risk areas to seek emergency shelter, and aid groups worked all week to move the displaced to safety. But some residents in the sprawling tent camps in Port-au-Prince have remained, fearing they will lose all their possessions if they leave, or be barred from returning.

January’s massive earthquake displaced more than 1 million people.

The U.N. has asked the international community for emergency aid, saying a half-million people could be affected by the storm. U.N. health officials also warn that polluted floodwaters and unsanitary conditions could worsen Haiti’s cholera outbreak, which already has killed more than 440 people.

The storm is expected to pass near or over the Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos islands later Friday or early Saturday. Hurricane warnings are in effect for those areas, as well as the province of Guantanamo, Cuba.

The U.S. Navy has sent the USS Iwo Jima to Haiti to help provide humanitarian support. The ship carries medical experts, engineers and helicopters.