Noel reaches hurricane status after lashing the Bahamas by Susan Powell
After lashing the Caribbean with heavy rain over the past few days, Tropical storm Noel last night attained hurricane status, reaching category one, the weakest on the Saffir- Simpson scale. Noel, which developed earlier in the week, left a trail of destruction across the Caribbean lashing countries such as the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Cuba with torrential rain. A record 15 inches (381mm) of rain was dumped over the Bahamas’ Long Island over 48 hours since its inception, causing mudslides and widespread floods.
More than 400 residents on the island were forced to leave their homes, as the storm caused flood levels to rise to those which have not been seen for 60 years. Dozens of communities were left stranded in the Dominican Republic, as buildings became submerged by the rising floodwaters, whilst in Haiti, a state of emergency was declared as more than 40 people were killed by the heavy rains.
As the total death toll now exceeds 100, Noel becomes the deadliest storm in the Atlantic this year, overtaking Felix, which slammed into Honduras in September. Currently packing maximum winds of 75mph (121kph), Noel is now moving away from the Caribbean, and is expected to continue tracking northwards over the weekend. Although it looks set to remain offshore, the hurricane could well bring some heavy snow to the east coast of Canada over the next few days.
|
|
