Rain, flooding threaten Haiti

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, Aug. 5 (RP) — Heavy rain and possible flooding from dissipating Tropical Storm Emily threatened thousands of Haitians living in temporary shelters Friday, forecasters said. In Port-au-Prince, Haiti’s capital, about 12,000 U.N. peacekeepers were on emergency standby.

People living in locations where the worst of the storm was expected were relocated into shelters, a spokeswoman for the U.N. Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said.

The Haitian government issued an alert warning residents that rainfall associated with Emily could produce dangerous flooding and mudslides.

Even as Emily falls apart, the National Hurricane Center said it could dump 6-12 inches of rain on Haiti and the Dominican Republic, with isolated amounts of up to 20 inches possible, CNN reported.

The Dominican Emergency Operation Center said more than 5,000 people in the Dominican Republic fled their homes because of heavy rains due to Emily, The Miami Herald reported.

The storm degenerated as it hit the mountains of the island of Hispaniola Thursday, the National Hurricane Center in Miami said.

The storm could reconstitute itself but South Florida likely would experience only some rough seas and possibly weekend rain, the Herald reported.