Haiti braced Friday as Tropical Storm Isaac roars toward it with rains and high winds that could wreak havoc for people still living in makeshift shelters after a devastating 2010 earthquake. Some 400,000 people still live in temporary tent camps following the earthquake that killed some 250,000 people and devastated Port-au-Prince.
President Michel Martelly took to the airwaves with safety advice and to urge Haitians to follow the directions of civil defence personnel. Martelly also cancelled a scheduled trip to Japan. "During these difficult times, my place is at your side," he told his fellow Haitians.
Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe said that the whole government, including security forces, has mobilised to prepare for the storm. "We are going to work with our international partners to co-ordinate response actions," Lamothe said. A hurricane watch was in effect for Haiti, meaning that hurricane conditions were expected in the area, and a tropical storm watch was in effect for the neighbouring Dominican Republic and eastern Cuba.
Isaac was gathering strength and speed some 265 kilometers (165 miles) south-west of Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic, the Miami-based US National Hurricane Center said at 1500 GMT. Its maximum sustained winds were clocked at 95 kilometers (60 miles) per hour as it moved in a westerly direction at 22 kilometers per hour, the NHC said.
The storm could dump up to 20 inches (51 centimeters) of rain on Hispaniola, the island shared by Haiti and the Dominican Republic. "These rains could cause life-threatening flash floods and mudslides," the NHC said. Schools were closed and hospitals added staff in at-risk areas of the Dominican Republic. Authorities urged people to prepare for floods, rising waters and mudslides due to heavy rains.
In Haiti, those still without proper shelter after the quake "remain amongst the most vulnerable, should the storm hit the city," said Jean-Claude Mukadi, Haiti's national director for the humanitarian group World Vision. "Without a stable sanitation system or permanent housing, heavy rain and wind can create much larger problems like disease from water contamination."
The Haiti director for Oxfam, another humanitarian group, said that his group was preparing clean water and hygiene kits to help prevent the spread of cholera and other water borne diseases. "Nothing short of a miracle can keep people safe from this kind of storm when their only shelter is a tent," said Oxfam's Andrew Pugh. "Haiti's disaster preparedness and response capacities have improved since the earthquake, but much remains to be done to help the poorest people cope with hurricane-strength threats," he said.
On the forecast track, Isaac's center will approach the southern coast of Hispaniola on Friday, pass near or over Haiti overnight, and move near or over south-eastern Cuba, home to the US naval base and "war on terror" prison at Guantanamo Bay, on Saturday and Sunday.
In Cuba, the government declared a state of alert in the island's six eastern provinces, where nearly five million people live. Local authorities "must understand the possible impact of the intense rain on dams, canals and rivers," the Cuban civil defence office said, warning of blocked water drainage systems and flooded roads. Cuba's civil defence system is designed to resist a US military invasion but has been effective at evacuating people and saving lives during past hurricanes.
Isaac could reach Florida as a hurricane early next week, just in time for the Republican Party's National Convention. Four thousand Republican delegates from around the country will be in Tampa for four days to formally nominate former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney to challenge President Barack Obama in the November 6 election.
City officials have urged residents to prepare for the worst, and Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus has expressed concern about the storm but insisted the show would go on. In Florida, the Pentagon said it has sent 22 F-16s jet fighters from Homestead Air Reserve Base, just south of Miami, to Fort Worth, Texas.
And eight C-130s transport planes that were sent to MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa from San Juan, Puerto Rico, were sent back to their home base. Florida is marking the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Andrew, a maximum level category five storm that killed 26 people and left some $26 billion in material damage in 1992.
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