Tropical Storm Isaac nears Haiti, still wrecked by quake

PanARMENIAN.Net - Tropical Storm Isaac bore down on Haiti's southern peninsula early Saturday, August 25 threatening a city prone to flooding and dousing other areas of the poor nation still trying to recover from the terrible 2010 earthquake, The Associated Press reported.

The storm swirled past the southern coast of the neighboring Dominican Republic on Friday, dropping heavy rain on that country and on Haiti. Forecasts put it on a path over eastern Cubaand on to the Gulf of Mexico, with it still posing a potential threat to Florida as a hurricane just as the Republicans gather for their national convention.

Forecasters said Isaac could dump as much as eight to 12 inches (30 centimeters) and even up to 20 inches (51 centimeters) on Hispaniola, which is shared by Haiti and the Dominican Republic, as well as produce a storm surge of up to 3 feet (0.9 meters).

There was a potential for deadly flash floods and mudslides in Haiti because so much of the country is deforested. Tropical storms in the past have killed thousands.

"That kind of rain is going to cause some life-threatening flash floods and mudslides," said Dennis Feltgen, a spokesman for the U.S. Hurricane Center in Miami.

Communications in Haiti are often spotty and there were no official reports of any damage by late Friday.

Government and international aid groups in Haiti's capital had been prepared on Friday to evacuate several thousand people from settlement camps that sprang up after the 2010 earthquake. But the main threat appeared aimed at Les Cayes, a city of about 45,000 people on the southwestern coast that is prone to flooding during heavy rain.