PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti —Tropical Storm Isaac churned toward Hispaniola on Thursday, a crossing that could determine the potential impact on Florida but almost certainly will prove devastating for Haiti, where hundreds of thousands of people remain homeless in the earthquake-shattered capital.
Almost three years after a catastrophic earthquake, Isaac loomed on the horizon — yet another potential disaster in the making for an impoverished island nation where flash floods have killed thousands.
“They tell us to remain vigilant and prepare to evacuate. But where do you go?” said Anilia Paul, 54, a mother of six, standing underneath a tattered structure that doubles as a welcome center and classroom in the Tapis Vert tent city near the airport. “We have 300 families living inside here. They have no place to go.”
On Thursday evening, Isaac was centered 210 miles southeast of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, with maximum sustained winds of 45 mph. It was moving west-northwest at 16 mph, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center.
Forecasters expected the storm to grow stronger before it reaches the southern coast of Haiti, probably Friday afternoon.
Isaac’s winds aren’t as likely as its rains to add to the misery of about 400,000 refugees of the 2010 earthquake who live in makeshift tent cities around Port-Au-Prince.
Haitian Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe urged people to avoid crossing rivers and to tape their windows. He said they should ask relatives overseas to wire money so they can stock up on food and water.
Above all, he said, it was important to stay calm. “Panic creates more problems,” he said.
The danger from flash floods and mudslides is greater outside the capital, where crumbling hillsides stripped of vegetation have made much of the country’s often poorly built homes vulnerable.
A series of storms in 2008 left hundreds dead and thousands homeless. In 2004, Tropical Storm Jeanne killed about 3,000 people in Gonaives when three rivers leading into the city spilled over, filling the northern coastal town with muck and boulders.
Forecasters are predicting 8 to 12 inches of rain across Haiti, with up to 20 inches in some spots.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
