World News : Tropical Storm Hanna was expected to move across the Bahamas??

World News : Tropical Storm Hanna was expected to move across the Bahamas??

Tropical Storm Hanna was a moderately strong tropical storm during the 2002 Atlantic hurricane season. The eighth storm of the 2002 season, Hanna was one of six tropical cyclones to make landfall in the United States during the 2002 season. Hanna formed in the Gulf of Mexico and moved northward, where it first made landfall in eastern Louisiana and then along the Mississippi/Alabama border.

Hanna caused minor damage as a tropical cyclone. In Alabama, Mississippi, and Georgia, heavy rainfall from the storm caused moderate flooding. Total damage from the storm amounted to $20.3 million dollars (2002 USD, $22.3 million 2006 USD) and there were three drowning fatalities in Florida.

Tropical Storm Hanna was expected to move across the Bahamas on Wednesday and Thursday and to hit the U.S. on Friday, somewhere between South Florida and the Carolinas, forecasters said.

Hanna's winds were at 60 mph, but it was expected to strengthen and could regain hurricane status by Thursday, the National Hurricane Center said.

At 8 a.m. ET Wednesday, Hanna was about 105 miles southeast of Great Inagua Island in the Bahamas, the hurricane center said.

It was moving eastward at about 5 mph and was expected to speed up and make a turn to the northwest later Wednesday, the center said. It described Hanna's path as "erratic."

Florida Gov. Charlie Crist declared a state of emergency Tuesday to get ready for Hanna, The Associated Press reported. Florida could get flash floods and wind gusts of up to 111 mph, he told the AP.
Following Hanna is Tropical Storm Ike, which formed Monday, and is forecast to cross into the Caribbean as a hurricane on Saturday or Sunday. Ike is heading toward the Caribbean at 18 mph with top wind speeds of 65 mph, the hurricane center said at 5 a.m. ET.

It could strike the Turks and Caicos Islands just south of the Bahamas by Sunday. iReport.com: Watch Hanna lash the Turks and Caicos Islands

Behind Ike is Tropical Storm Josephine, with top winds near 60 mph, the hurricane center said at 5 a.m. ET. Josephine is about 220 miles west-southwest of the southernmost Cape Verde Islands off western Africa.

Hanna caused severe flooding in Haiti's port city of Gonaives, and rescue efforts have been hampered because of flooded bridges and roads, some of which Hurricane Gustav washed out last week, a local official said.

Authorities said the storm killed 23 people in Haiti, the AP reported.

Two university students were swept away by flowing water in Puerto Rico, and at least one of them was killed, according to the AP

World News : Tropical Storm Hanna was expected to move across the Bahamas??