Emergency teams on standby as Haiti braces itself for Tropical Storm Emily

[News_Editor]

Emergency teams on standby as Haiti braces itself for Tropical Storm Emily

2011-08-04 23:04:17 GMT+7 (ICT)

PORT-AU-PRINCE (BNO NEWS) -- Emergency teams are on standby as Haiti braces itself for the arrival of Tropical Storm Emily on Thursday night, which could cause severe damage in the impoverished Caribbean country.

As of 11 a.m. EDT (1500 GMT) on Thursday, the center of Tropical Storm Emily was located about 90 miles (145 kilometers) south of Port-au-Prince, the capital of Haiti. It is moving towards the west-northwest at a speed of around 5 miles (7 kilometers) per hour, taking the worst of the storm straight over the capital later on Thursday.

"Haiti faces threats of heavy rain and intense flooding over the next 48 hours which could have a devastating impact on the thousands of people still in camps, and the many more who are living in unsafe housing or flood prone areas," said Marcel Goyeneche, disaster preparedness coordinator at the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC).

Haiti is still recovering from a devastating 7.0-magnitude earthquake which struck near Port-au-Prince on January 12, 2010, killing up to 316,000 people and leaving more than 1.5 million others homeless. Many of them still live in tents.

As of late Thursday morning, Emily's maximum sustained winds were near 50 miles (85 kilometers) per hour, with higher gusts. "The official forecast calls for no significant change in intensity, or perhaps for a slight weakening as the cyclone moves by Haiti and Cuba during the next 24 hours," said U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) senior hurricane specialist Lixion Avila.

The Red Cross has said it has emergency response teams on standby throughout Haiti, and millions of text messages have been sent country-wide to inform people about the approaching storm. "Community responders, trained by Red Cross teams, have been working over the last 24 hours to share life saving information and updates with their neighbors, including how to secure their homes," Goyeneche added.

The United Nations also said it has its forces on standby as Emily approaches and some contingents of the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) have already been deployed as a precautionary measure. MINUSTAH comprises 8,500 troops and 3,000 police.

Food stocks, medical kits, cholera treatment kits, tents and tarpaulins were already pre-positioned throughout the country in preparation for the hurricane season, the UN said.

Emily is the fifth named storm of the 2011 Atlantic hurricane season, following Tropical Storm Don which made landfall on the south Texas coast on late Friday evening, causing no casualties and no significant damage.

According to figures released on Thursday, NOAA's Climate Prediction Center is expecting an above-normal hurricane season in the Atlantic this year. The outlook calls for 14 to 19 named storms, with seven to ten becoming hurricanes and three to five expected to become a major hurricane (category 3 or higher).

An average Atlantic hurricane season produces 11 named storms, with six becoming hurricanes and two becoming major hurricanes. The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 through November 30, with peak activity in September.

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2011-08-04