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Tropical storm leaves 4 dead in Haiti, DR
(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-08-17 10:08

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti-- Flooding from Tropical Storm Fay killed four people in Haiti and the Dominican Republic, and authorities warned Saturday that the storm could reach hurricane strength as it barrels toward Cuba.


This NOAA satellite image taken Saturday, August 16, 2008 at 1:45 PM EDT shows Tropical Storm Fay is leaving Hispaniola and moving towards Cuba. The storm is forecast to become a hurricane over the next few days and will likely make landfall along the Gulf Coast of the US. [Agencies]

Florida's Gov. Charlie Crist declared a state of emergency and said Fay threatened the state with a "major disaster." Forecasters said Fay could bring hurricane-force winds to the Florida Keys as soon as Monday.

The US National Hurricane Center in Miami said that on Saturday night the storm was located about 60 miles (100 kilometers) southwest of Guantanamo, Cuba. It was heading west at about 14 mph (22 kph), with maximum sustained winds of 45 mph (70 kph).

A man died Saturday in Haiti while trying to cross a river in Leogane, south of Port-au-Prince, said Marie Alta Jean-Baptiste, head of Haiti's civil protection department. No further information was immediately available.

Rice fields in the Artibonite Valley, Haiti's most fertile region, were flooded, according to reports from Radio Ginen. And Fay's heavy winds destroyed banana crops in Arcahaie, north of the capital, although it is unclear how many acres were affected, Jean-Baptiste said.

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