16497: (Hermantin) Miami-Herald-Storm closing in on Haiti, Dominican Republic (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>

Posted on Fri, Aug. 22, 2003

Storm closing in on Haiti, Dominican Republic
BY MARTIN MERZER
mmerzer@herald.com

The storm that soon could be known as Tropical Storm Fabian closed in on the
Dominican Republic and Haiti this afternoon. Forecasters warned of
life-threatening flash floods and mudslides in mountainous portions of those
nations.

The long-range outlook was uncertain, though the official forecast track
still brought the storm to South Florida by Wednesday morning at
near-hurricane strength.

Forecasters said that could change as the storm encounters shifting
atmospheric conditions, crashes into the mountains of Hispaniola and then
spends time over mountainous eastern Cuba.

Tropical storm warnings covered all of Haiti and the south coast of the
Dominican Republic from Isla Saona west to the border with Haiti.
Forecasters advised residents of eastern Cuba and the southeastern Bahamas
to carefully monitor the storm.

At 11 a.m., the center of Tropical Depression Nine was located near latitude
16.4 north, longitude 68.6 west or about 155 miles south-southeast of Santo
Domingo, the Dominican Republic.

Its maximum sustained winds were 35 mph and the system was moving toward the
west-northwest at 12 mph.

A hurricane hunter airplane was expected to reach the storm this afternoon
and crews were assigned to measure its structure and assess the surrounding
atmosphere.

''Let's see what happens,'' said forecaster Lixion Avila of the National
Hurricane Center in West Miami-Dade County.

He said the system was becoming better organized and was expected to develop
winds stronger than 39 mph, which would make it Tropical Storm Fabian,
before it reaches Hispaniola, the island shared by Haiti and the Dominican
Republic.

The system could be weakened -- or even destroyed -- by the island's
mountains, Avila said.

But if it survives, ``strengthening is expected once the tropical cyclone is
back over water between Cuba, the Bahamas and Florida, where the upper-level
environment is forecast to be very favorable.''

For Haiti and the Dominican Republic, forecasters predicted three to six
inches of rain, which they said could cause ``life-threatening flash floods
and mudslides, particularly in mountains areas.''

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