NU Online News Service, Nov. 1, 3:40 p.m. EDT
The 19th named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season is headed toward Haiti.
Tropical Storm Tomas, which had reached hurricane strength after forming on Oct. 29, is now located 100 miles north of Curacao, or about 420 miles southeast of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC).
As of late morning on Nov. 1, the storm had maximum sustained winds of 45 mph and was expected to weaken but then strengthen to again reach Category 1 hurricane status on Friday morning before making landfall in Haiti, the NHC said.
Modeler AIR Worldwide said Tomas battered St. Vincent and St. Lucia for several hours as a Category 1 hurricane over the weekend. Gusts were 90 mph and officials in St. Vincent said about 300 homes were seriously damaged. There were reports of downed trees and damage to homes, businesses, schools and hospitals in St. Lucia, AIR said.
The storm's formation as far south as Grenada this late in the year is "unprecedented," AIR said.
The Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility (CCRIF) estimates a $12.8 million payout for Barbados, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Grenada. The CCRIF is a risk pooling facility for Caribbean governments designed to limit the financial impact of catastrophic hurricanes and earthquakes in the Caribbean by providing short-term liquidity when a policy is triggered.
"There is still considerable uncertainty with regards to Tomas' future track," warned Scott Stransky, research scientist at AIR. He said computer models vary on the timing and location of the predicted north or northeast turn of the storm.
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