Haiti prepares for Hurricane Irene
Published:Tuesday | August 23, 2011 | 12:00 AM
PORT AU PRINCE (CMC):
The
United Nations yesterday said it had activated its emergency response
systems as Haiti prepares for the passage of Hurricane Irene, the first
hurricane of the 2011 Atlantic season.
The Miami-based
National Hurricane Centre (NHC) said the hurricane, packing winds of 80
miles per hour (mph) would be moving just north of the Dominican
Republic and Haiti, yesterday, and would be near the Turks and Caicos
Islands and The Bahamas today.
It said that the Category One
hurricane could strengthen over the next two days and that rainfall
accumulations associated with the hurricane could reach as high as 10
inches and pose life-threatening flash floods and mud slides in
countries such as Haiti, The Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands.