Tropical Storm Tomas Threatens Haiti Hurricane

So far Haiti hasn't been troubled by the 2010 hurricane season, but unfortunately it looks as though that is about to change.  As you can tell from his name, this year there have already been a lot of tropical storms in the Atlantic before Tomas.  Up to now they have all somehow managed to avoid Haiti:

Tracks of 2010 Atlantic Tropical Storms - Courtesy of Wikipedia

After battering other parts of the Caribbean Tomas is no longer a hurricane, and has been downgraded to tropical storm status. According to the BBC:

Tomas weakens after whipping Caribbean isles

However in their latest public advisory message the U.S. National Hurricane Center say that:

Some strengthening is forecast on Wednesday. Interests in Jamaica, Haiti and the Dominican Republic should monitor the progress of Tomas.

The current NHC forecast shows a reinvigorated Hurricane Tomas hitting Haiti on Friday:

Forecast track of Tropical Storm Tomas - Courtesy of the NOAA

This is what happened when hurricane Hanna hit Haiti in 2008:

Let's all hope that this is one weather forecast that proves to be wildly off the mark. According to the BBC once more:

In Haiti, aid workers voiced concern that the country was ill prepared for heavy rain and strong winds given the large numbers living in tents.

"We are so stretched already with the cholera, and we are running a daily earthquake response as well," said Imogen Hall, of the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs.