Hurricane Tomas strengthens in eastern Caribbean

BRIDGETOWN,  (Reuters) – Hurricane Tomas strengthened  today after ripping off roofs and knocking down trees and  power lines in the eastern Caribbean on a westward track that  will put earthquake-hit Haiti at risk next week.
Tomas, the 12th hurricane of a very active 2010 Atlantic  hurricane season, was packing top sustained winds of 100 miles  (160 km) per hour, making it a Category 2 hurricane on the  Saffir-Simpson five-step scale of intensity.
The U.S. National Hurricane Center forecast some additional  strengthening on Sunday as Tomas moved away from the Windward  Islands on a west-northwest track.
Forecasts showed Tomas strengthening by Tuesday to a  Category 3 or 4 hurricane, with projected wind speeds greater  than 111 miles (178 km) per hour, as it passed south of the  Dominican Republic and Haiti.
“This is a very dangerous hurricane that is just beginning  to get going,” hurricane expert Jeff Masters of private U.S.  forecaster Weather Underground wrote in his blog.
“At this time, is appears that the Dominican Republic and  Haiti are most at risk from a strike by Tomas, though the storm  could move as far west as Jamaica, or as far east as the  northern Lesser Antilles Islands.”
The hurricane swept over St. Lucia and St. Vincent yesterday, damaging homes, knocking out power and blocking roads  with flooding and debris. There were no immediate reports of  any deaths.
“We have over 100 homes that have lost roofs. We expect  that to increase,” said Michelle Forbes, head of the National  Emergency Management Organization (NEMO) of St. Vincent.
Two people were injured trying to secure a roof, and more  than 500 people took refuge in shelters, she told Reuters.
In St. Lucia, a hospital had its roof blown off, a local  emergency official said.
Earlier, Tomas damaged homes in Barbados, where some people  took shelter in schools and churches.
Haiti’s government and its international aid partners,  which are already grappling with a major cholera epidemic that  has killed at least 330 people and sickened over 4,700, were  discussing contingency measures for possible severe weather  impact from the hurricane next week.
With around 1.5 million homeless survivors from Haiti’s  devastating Jan. 12 earthquake living in tent and tarpaulin  camps in the hilly capital of Port-au-Prince, authorities  worried about the possible destructive effects of powerful  winds and torrential rain on the vulnerable outdoor camps.
“A hurricane is one of the things we’ve been preparing for  … but we’re stretched to capacity handling the cholera  epidemic,” Imogen Wall, the United Nations humanitarian  spokeswoman in Haiti, told Reuters from Port-au-Prince.
“It’s obviously the last thing Haiti needs,” she said,  noting that authorities were working on protection measures and  stockpiling emergency supplies.
The 2010 Atlantic hurricane season has produced 12  hurricanes, five of them major, but the United States has  escaped a significant hurricane landfall so far.