MIAMI (AFP) – Tropical Storm Tomas weakened further over the Caribbean Sea on Monday, but Haiti remained on alert, with the storm expected to regain strength for a potentially devastating hit.
The United Nations ordered emergency food and shelter to parts of Haiti threatened by the storm, warning that up to 500,000 people could be affected by Tomas.
The US National Hurricane Center's forecast track predicted Tomas could strike the island of Hispaniola shared by the battered nation and the Dominican Republic as a hurricane on Friday with wind speeds of between 74 and 110 miles (119 and 177 kilometers) per hour.
Tomas was then forecast to reach the Bahamas by early Saturday.
UN agencies have rushed supplies to camps across Haiti, in some cases sending enough fuel for seven days in anticipation that roads will be cut by the hurricane, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in a statement.
It would be the latest disaster to hit the impoverished nation, where authorities are struggling to contain a cholera outbreak and 1.3 million people are still huddled in precarious tent cities in the wake of a massive January earthquake that flattened much of the country, killing over 250,000 people.
Tomas, which lost its hurricane status overnight, saw its maximum sustained winds decrease to near 45 miles (72 kilometers) per hour at 1500 GMT.
It was moving west-southwest over the open sea at 14 miles (23 kilometers) per hour and was expected to continue the same general motion for the next couple of days, the Miami-based center said.
The storm was located about 90 miles (145 kilometers) north-northeast of Curacao and 420 miles (675 kilometers) southeast of the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince.
The NHC predicted "additional weakening" Monday, but warned the storm could regain strength by late Tuesday.
No coastal warnings or watches were in effect.
On Saturday, Tomas damaged homes and downed power lines in Barbados and St. Lucia with strong winds and heavy rains that caused no loss of life on the resort islands.
The water-logged Caribbean basin region has already endured a heavy 2010 rainy season, particularly for Central America and southern Mexico. The ground in many areas is saturated and more rain could easily trigger landslides and flooding.
