HAVANA (Thomson Financial) - Tropical storm Fay bore down on Cuba Sunday after leaving five dead and one missing in the Dominican Republic and Haiti, as Florida declared an emergency and ordered tourists to leave the popular Keys.
The Miami-based US National Hurricane Center warned Sunday that Fay, already packing winds of up to 85 kilometers (50 miles) an hour, could strengthen into a hurricane in the coming hours and dump several inches of rain over Cuba, Jamaica and the Cayman Islands before lashing Florida on Monday.
'A hurricane watch is now in effect for the Florida Keys from south of Ocean reef to Key West,' said a bulletin issued by the center.
Authorities in the popular tourist spot of the Florida Keys archipelago, which comprises hundreds of islands, have ordered all visitors to evacuate and told residents to secure their homes and property, including boats.
With the storm due to hit during the night of Monday to Tuesday, Florida Governor Charlie Grist declared a state of emergency in the area.
Shelters would begin opening later Sunday and all schools in the Monroe County area, which includes Key West, lying just 150 kilometers (95 miles) from Cuba, were to be closed on Monday and Tuesday.
Residents in mobile homes and those living on boats were also told to evacuate.
In mainland Miami meanwhile, residents began descending on gas stations and supermarkets to fill up gas tanks and stock up on bottled water and food supplies.
Cuban authorities were Sunday already evacuating people living in the path of the storm as heavy wind and rain began battering the eastern coast.
Miami weather watchers said Fay could unleash from four to eight inches (10 to 20 centimeters) of rain on Cuba, Jamaica and the northern Caymans, and possibly even as much as 12 inches (30 centimeters) in some areas in the coming hours.
The tropical storm was moving about 20 kilometers (13 miles) an hour to the east of the island, and was Sunday about 550 kilometers (320 miles) southeast of the capital Havana, according to the island's latest weather reports.
It is due to pass across the Caribbean island from south to north late Sunday, when experts fear Fay could turn into a hurricane. The Miami-based hurricane center has forecast it could soon be packing winds of at least 120 kilometers (75 miles) an hour.
The director of Cuba's weather center, Jose Rubiera, warned of the danger of 'tidal waves' with probability of flooding in the eastern provinces of Granma, Santiago de Cuba and Guantanamo.
'The most important thing for our country continues to be the rains brought by the tropical storm,' the center said, as its warnings interrupted the normal television and radio broadcasts.
All Cuban domestic flights have been suspended, and civil defense authorities were closely monitoring the levels of rivers and dams amid fears of severe flooding.
After crossing Cuba, Fay is expected to head up the west coast of Florida, hitting the Florida Keys by Monday afternoon and could bring as much as 10 inches (25 centimeters) of rain in some places.
The storm, the sixth of the Atlantic hurricane season, has already brought misery to other islands. Authorities in the Dominican Republic said four people had died in the storm, including two young brothers swept away when the river Higuey broke its banks.
Some 11,760 people were evacuated, and power was cut to some 15,000 homes, local media said. Five bridges were also damaged and several roadways snapped.
In Haiti, the heavy rains killed one person in the north and another was missing in the south, civil protection officials told AFP. tf.TFN-Europe_newsdesk@thomson.com afp/hjp COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Financial News Limited 2008. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Thomson Financial News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Financial News.