Storm Emily could regenerate, flooding kills two

MIAMI, (Reuters) – Two people were killed in flooding  triggered by former Tropical Storm Emily, authorities said today, as its remnants moved northwest over the Caribbean with  a 60 percent chance of regenerating into a tropical cyclone in  the next 48 hours.
Authorities in Florida were watching the weather system but  most forecast tracks showed it keeping away from the state’s  south coast and eventually swinging into the Atlantic Ocean.
The remnants of Emily posed no threat to oil and gas  production facilities in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico.
Emily, the fifth named storm of the 2011 Atlantic hurricane  season, lost intensity on Thursday as it rolled over  mountainous Hispaniola island, dumping rain on Haiti and the  Dominican Republic.
In Haiti officials said one person died in flooding in the  southern city of Les Cayes. They urged people to remain on  alert for more potential rain.
A 23-year-old man died in the Dominican Republic when he  fell down a sewer as he bathed in a pool of water created by  the rains and resulting floods, authorities said.
Some 7,000 people had been forced to leave their homes,  with dozens of villages cut off by floodwaters and swollen  rivers, Dominican Republic officials said.
“This system remains disorganized but upper-level winds are  expected to become a little more favorable for development on  Saturday,” the Miami-based U.S. National Hurricane Center said,  giving it a “high chance” of reforming into a tropical  cyclone.season this year.