NU Online News Service, Nov. 5, 2:10 p.m. EDT

Hurricane Tomas, a Category 1 storm, is expected on Friday tostrike Haiti, a country still recovering from an earthquake earlythis year.

The biggest threat to Haiti will be as much as 15 inches of rainproduced by the hurricane. That amount of rain could produce flashfloods and mudslides, according to the National Hurricane Center,which added that Tomas could raise water levels by as much as threefeet above normal tides along the coast of Haiti and some coastalparts of Cuba.

Heavy rain is also predicted for the Dominican Republic.

If there is any good news, it is that the country's capital ofPort au Prince is not expected to experience strong winds fromTomas, said modeler Risk Management Solutions (RMS).

The capital city was leveled by an earthquake in January.

As of early morning, Tomas had sustained winds of about 80 mph.The storm is expected to pass the Turks and Caicos Islands and theBahamas later today before weakening due to wind shear.

A hurricane warning was in effect for these regions as well asthe Cuban province of Guantanamo.

RMS said conditions in November remain conducive for hurricaneformation. About 20 hurricanes have formed in November since1950, said RMS. Most affected the Caribbean, and just four reachedmajor hurricane (Category 3) status.

Tomas is the 19^th named storm and the 12^thhurricane to form this Atlantic hurricane season.