BRIDGETOWN, (Reuters) – Hurricane Tomas strengthened today after ripping off roofs and knocking down trees and power lines in the eastern Caribbean on a westward track that will put earthquake-hit Haiti at risk next week.
Tomas, the 12th hurricane of a very active 2010 Atlantic hurricane season, was packing top sustained winds of 100 miles (160 km) per hour, making it a Category 2 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson five-step scale of intensity.
The U.S. National Hurricane Center forecast some additional strengthening on Sunday as Tomas moved away from the Windward Islands on a west-northwest track.
Forecasts showed Tomas strengthening by Tuesday to a Category 3 or 4 hurricane, with projected wind speeds greater than 111 miles (178 km) per hour, as it passed south of the Dominican Republic and Haiti.
“This is a very dangerous hurricane that is just beginning to get going,” hurricane expert Jeff Masters of private U.S. forecaster Weather Underground wrote in his blog.
“At this time, is appears that the Dominican Republic and Haiti are most at risk from a strike by Tomas, though the storm could move as far west as Jamaica, or as far east as the northern Lesser Antilles Islands.”
The hurricane swept over St. Lucia and St. Vincent yesterday, damaging homes, knocking out power and blocking roads with flooding and debris. There were no immediate reports of any deaths.
“We have over 100 homes that have lost roofs. We expect that to increase,” said Michelle Forbes, head of the National Emergency Management Organization (NEMO) of St. Vincent.
Two people were injured trying to secure a roof, and more than 500 people took refuge in shelters, she told Reuters.
In St. Lucia, a hospital had its roof blown off, a local emergency official said.
Earlier, Tomas damaged homes in Barbados, where some people took shelter in schools and churches.
Haiti’s government and its international aid partners, which are already grappling with a major cholera epidemic that has killed at least 330 people and sickened over 4,700, were discussing contingency measures for possible severe weather impact from the hurricane next week.
With around 1.5 million homeless survivors from Haiti’s devastating Jan. 12 earthquake living in tent and tarpaulin camps in the hilly capital of Port-au-Prince, authorities worried about the possible destructive effects of powerful winds and torrential rain on the vulnerable outdoor camps.
“A hurricane is one of the things we’ve been preparing for … but we’re stretched to capacity handling the cholera epidemic,” Imogen Wall, the United Nations humanitarian spokeswoman in Haiti, told Reuters from Port-au-Prince.
“It’s obviously the last thing Haiti needs,” she said, noting that authorities were working on protection measures and stockpiling emergency supplies.
The 2010 Atlantic hurricane season has produced 12 hurricanes, five of them major, but the United States has escaped a significant hurricane landfall so far.
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