Tropical Storm Fay Threatens Florida

Gov. Declares State Of Emergency As Heavy Rains Pummel Hispaniola, Kill 4

(AP)  Flooding from Tropical Storm Fay killed four people in Haiti and the Dominican Republic, and authorities warned Saturday that the storm could reach hurricane strength as it barrels toward Cuba.

Florida's Gov. Charlie Crist declared a state of emergency and said Fay threatened the state with a "major disaster." Forecasters said Fay could bring hurricane-force winds to the Florida Keys as soon as Monday.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said that on Saturday night the storm was located about 60 miles southwest of Guantanamo, Cuba. It was heading west at about 14 mph, with maximum sustained winds of 45 mph.

A man died Saturday in Haiti while trying to cross a river in Leogane, south of Port-au-Prince, said Marie Alta Jean-Baptiste, head of Haiti's civil protection department. No further information was immediately available.

Rice fields in the Artibonite Valley, Haiti's most fertile region, were flooded, according to reports from Radio Ginen. And Fay's heavy winds destroyed banana crops in Arcahaie, north of the capital, although it is unclear how many acres were affected, Jean-Baptiste said.

Haiti has struggled to cope with a food crisis that sparked deadly riots in April.

The capital's airport reopened Saturday afternoon, but heavy rains were still expected in the south.

In neighboring Dominican Republic, a 34-year-old woman drowned when a family tried to cross a swollen river in a car, civil defense agency director Luis Luna Paulino said. The bodies of her missing 13-year-old niece and 5-year-old nephew were found Saturday afternoon, but her husband swam to safety.

A tropical storm warning has been issued for the Cayman Islands, and a tropical storm watch remains in effect for the Bahamas and Jamaica.

Cuba's government said hurricane watches were in effect for the provinces of Villa Clara, Cinefuegos, Matanzas, Camaguey, Ciego de Avila and Sancti Spiritus. Fay's path was expected to take it over the southern coast of the eastern Cuba late Saturday or Sunday and over the island's west near Havana on Sunday night or Monday.

Officials in Cuba's eastern province of Santiago met to discuss ordering tourists to evacuate low-lying coastal hotels and camp sites, the Communist Party newspaper Granma reported on its Web site. They also advised farmers to move cattle and other animals to higher ground.

There were no official details on how many tourists had been evacuated, but a receptionist at the Melia Santiago hotel, located in Cuba's second-largest city, said it was preparing to receive a "small number" of tourists evacuated from coastal areas. She said she was not authorized to be identified by name in the foreign media.

Forecasters said Fay could hit the U.S. as a Category 1 or 2 hurricane, with winds perhaps reaching more than 100 mph.

[waves23]

The following free song Waves of Hands was song to inspire people to help people who were in major storms

Buildings gone-lives are lost
Man and natures%u2019 fault?
Ocean waves swell-tears fall
Thunderous cry the world heard!

Waves of hands
Seeking (for) help
Reach out the waves of hands,
Offering relief, (offering relief)

Witness strange lands -unknown souls
Bring smile(s) of peace and joy
Forces of man, united, one voice,
Please, hurt no more, no more!

Waves of hands
Offer(ing) relief
Reach out the waves of hands,
Seeking (for) help, (seeking for help)

Lives reborn-buildings grow
Return to the Earth golden glow
Waving hands, people%u2019s love,
Seek peace for all, seek peace for all.

Waves of hands
From all the world
Reach out to shake and hold,
Hands of peace, hands of peace.

http://www.kfab.com/cc-common/artist_submission/player.html?art=177617

[benissimo-2009]

Calling all surfers.

[tryhonesty]

Ah, there goes gas prices up again...

[carolcape]

You people don''t seem to take it seriously. I definitely would not stay in the area of this hurricane, it sounds like it is quite a powerful storm. Never joke about things like this, you never know how they could turn out.

[wellhell3]

Posted by timdgrim at 01:44 PM : Aug 16, 2008


But don''''t you see that this is how the GOP reponds to a threat. (hide under the bed and pray)


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by rharrin1 at 05:14 PM : Aug 16, 2008

Right, the GOP can deflect a hurricane...just like the democrats deflected hurricane Katrina. Seems like the democrats prayers weren''t quite heard, now doesn''t it.

[u-r-right]

All it has to do is turn a little to the right and there goes gas prices again.

[sistatee-2009]

John Edwards is filing a class-action lawsuit against Fay.

[timdgrim]

People need to gather in groups and pray to deflect the storm away from them.
Posted by GOP_forever
*********
I''m going to pray to deflect you away from this site.

[gop_forever]

People need to gather in groups and pray to deflect the storm away from them.