Typhoon "Irene" moving towards Haiti, potential disaster

Tropical storm "Irene" turned into a hurricane over Puerto Rico and headed to Haiti, where hundreds of thousands of people are living in tents after the devastating earthquake of January 2010.

The typhoon is also expected to strike the Dominican Republic, And there's also a possibility to pass by the GA, Florida, North and South Carolina in the U.S..


From the Weather Channel :

"Irene becomes the first hurricane of the season in the Atlantic Basin.
Irene made landfall near Punta Santiago, Puerto Rico at 1:25 am Monday.
Now exiting Puerto Rico, Irene will track near or over the northern coast of Hispaniola into Tuesday.

Irene is 105 miles east of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, with top winds of 75 mph and was moving west-northwest at 14 mph.
A hurricane warning is in effect for the north coast of the Dominican Republic from the Haiti border to Cabo Engano, Puerto Rico, Vieques and Culebra.
A hurricane watch is in effect for the north coast of Haiti from Le Mole St. Nicholas eastward to the Dominican Republic border and the central Bahamas.

Tropical storm warnings are posted for the Virgin Islands (both U.S. and British), the south coast of the Dominican Republic from Cabo Engano west to the Haiti border, Haiti, the southeast Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands.
Irene will likely cause devastating flash flooding and mudslides across Puerto Rico and Hispaniola with rainfall up to 20 inches possible in the mountains.
With less interaction with Hispaniola expected, Irene is forecast to remain a hurricane as it passes by the island and could continue strengthening as it passes through the Bahamas during the midweek.
Eventually, Irene is expected to threaten the Southeastern U.S. late in the week, beginning with south Florida on Thursday."

Kevin Roth, Lead Meteorologist


If it manages to strike Haiti huge problems will be caused, since hundreds of thousands of people are still living in tents and makeshift camps.



According to the International Organization for Migration, approximately 634,000 people are living in camps (according to other data, the number is 375,000)





Incidentally, the typhoon's name is pretty similar to that of my favourite ghost maid, Airi, from Queen's Blade. Never has her nickname. "Airinn", been so strikingly precise before.

We can only hope that the typhoon does not bear the same evil personality as Airi, or much more disasters are likely to come.