 HAVANA
(Reuters) - Tropical Storm Debby, a former hurricane with its
fangs removed as it passed over the high mountains of Hispaniola,
was expected to dump heavy rain on Cuba early on Thursday.
But forecasters
at the U.S. National Hurricane Center said Debby, which has shifted
its course to the south over the past 24 hours, was set to further
weaken as it passed over the mountainous eastern end of the island.
That meant
Debby no longer posed a likely hurricane threat to south Florida,
and the heavily populated urban area of Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Palm
Beach where anxious residents had begun stocking emergency supplies.
At 11 p.m.
EDT, Debby was located over the Windward Passage near the eastern
tip of Cuba, at about latitude 20.0 north and longitude 74.0 west.
Its maximum winds were blowing at 45 mph, well below the threshold
hurricane speeds of 75 mph of the last few days as the storm sped
in over the eastern Caribbean.
The system
was expected to further weaken as it moved over Cuba early on
Thursday. It was traveling west at 16 mph and was expected to
continue on that course for the next day.
Debby doused
the Dominican Republic and Haiti, which share the island of Hispaniola,
as it passed over the north of the island from Tuesday night.
Local journalists
in northwest Haiti reported flooding in parts of the northwest
of the country, with damage to some shantytown homes and banana
plantations. Domestic flights in Haiti were canceled.
The storm
was forecast to weaken as it passed over Hispaniola and Cuba.
``If it stays over land it will weaken even more,'' said U.S.
hurricane center director Max Mayfield.
Heavy rains
were still affecting parts of Haiti and the Dominican Republic
late on Wednesday in the wake of Debby. The storm was dumping
rainfall totals of 4-6 inches and as much as 10-15 inches in mountainous
areas, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.
Even with
a diminished threat to south Florida, the scattered islands of
the Florida Keys, where a single highway serves as the evacuation
route for 80,000 residents, had to take precautionary measures
early. Emergency managers ordered tourists to leave the Keys on
Wednesday.
Cuba evacuated
hundreds of people from flood-prone areas in eastern parts of
the island on Wednesday ahead of the storm and warned tourists
staying at resorts on the north coast they might have to move.
A tropical
storm warning, advising people of storm conditions in the next
24 hours, was in effect in the northern provinces of Guantanamo,
Holguin and Las Tunas and for the central and southeastern Bahamas
islands.
 Reuters
Photo
A tropical storm watch, alerting people to storm conditions in
the next hours, was in effect in the provinces of Camaguey, Ciego
de Avila, Santiago de Cuba and Granma in Cuba.
Cuban officials
said rain would be welcome to parched parts of the island if it
did not cause damage. But in precautionary measures across eastern
Cuba, trees were trimmed, sewage systems drained, thousands of
cattle transported to safe areas, merchandise removed from ports,
and coffee-harvesting speeded up under Civil Defense instructions.
In Guantanamo,
1,400 people in low-lying areas were evacuated, while a further
23,000 were to be moved in Holguin, and 14,000 in Las Tunas.
In previous
years, Cuban President Fidel Castro has taken personal charge
of emergency measures during hurricanes, often taking to state
television to rally his people. Castro aides said he was following
Debby's progress closely from Revolution Palace.
Debby closed
airports, schools and offices in the northeast Caribbean on Tuesday
but largely spared the islands as it brushed past to the north.
So far the storm has caused only one reported fatality. A man
in Puerto Rico died on Tuesday when he fell off his roof while
taking down a television antenna before Debby hit.
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