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Tropical Storm Ivan Swirls Toward Texas; Jeanne Threatens Florida

Haiti Death Toll Climbs Past 1,100; Lisa Weakens To Depression

UPDATED: 8:12 am EDT September 24, 2004

Ivan, now a tropical storm, is making an unwanted encore in the Gulf of Mexico.

HURRICANE KATRINA

The regenerated storm is swirling along the Texas coast with the potential for ten inches of rain over the weekend.

Meanwhile, forecasters at the National Hurricane Center say it looks like Florida is going to get hit by a fourth hurricane this year. After devastating the island of Haiti, Hurricane Jeanne is now forecast to take a turn to the west and strike Florida's east coast over the weekend.

The National Hurricane Center says Jeanne has the state in its sights although it's still possible the storm could hit higher up along the Atlantic coast or curl off to sea.

Jeanne wandered around the Atlantic after causing massive loss of life in Haiti, but now, it's on a slow track for a landfall. The storm expected to strengthen and become a dangerous Category 3 hurricane.

National Hurricane Center Director Max Mayfield said the last time a state was hit by four hurricanes in a single year was Texas in 1886. He said he knows Floridians might feel fatigued by Charlie, Frances, and Ivan, but he said there's no choice but to deal with Jeanne.

A tropical storm watch remains in effect for the central Bahamas, including Cat Island, the Exumas, Long Island, Rum Cay and San Salvador.

At 5 p.m. EDT, the center of Hurricane Jeanne was located near latitude 25.9 north, longitude 70.3 west, or about 425 miles east of Great Abaco Island in the Bahamas. Jeanne is moving toward the west-northwest near 8 mph, and a gradual turn toward the west at a slightly faster forward speed is expected to occur later Thursday night or Friday. Maximum sustained winds are near 105 mph, with higher gusts. A slow increase in strength is possible during the next 24 hours.

Dangerous surf and rip currents, caused by large swells generated by Hurricane Jeanne, are possible along the southeastern U.S. coast and the northwest and central Bahamas for the next few days.

Many Floridians hoped that they were done with hurricanes this year. Hurricanes Charley, Frances and Ivan hit the state over a span of five weeks this summer, causing billions of dollars of damage and more than 60 deaths.

Meanwhile, Hurricane Ivan's remnants reformed Wednesday into a tropical storm in the Gulf of Mexico and were forecast to make landfall again by early Friday in either Texas or Louisiana. As a hurricane, Ivan battered the southeast last week, killing at least 57 people before breaking apart. One of the pieces headed back across Florida into the gulf and became a tropical storm.

Haiti Death Toll Climbs Past 1,100

Panic is gripping parts of Haiti as residents struggle to get scarce food and water, six days after taking a beating by Tropical Storm Jeanne.

In the northwest city of Gonaives, desperate, hungry and thirsty residents are attacking each other, as aid workers have a hard time reaching the area with supplies.

One farmer complained, "We can only drink the water people died in."


Video: Haiti Reeling From Jeanne's Floods
Images: Jeanne Hits Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic

Meantime, workers are struggling to bury hundreds of corpses. More than 1,100 people were killed by Jeanne, and some 1,200 are still missing. One woman said, "There are so many bodies, you smell them but you don't see them."

Health workers fear an epidemic of disease from the unburied dead, overflowing raw sewage, lack of potable water, and infections from injuries.

The Haitian government says the death toll could reach 2,000.

The storm came four months after devastating floods along the southern border of Haiti and neighboring Dominican Republic.

Lisa Weakens To Depression

At 5 p.m., the center of tropical depression Lisa was located near latitude 14.3 north, longitude 40.7 west, or about 1,120 miles west of the Cape Verde Islands.

The depression is moving toward the west-northwest near 6 mph, and this motion is expected to continue for the next 24 hours followed by a turn toward the northwest.

Maximum sustained winds are near 35 mph, with higher gusts. Little change in strength is forecast during the next 24 hours.

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