Slow-moving Tropical Storm Noel was soaking central Cuba Wednesday but its effects were being felt in the Bahamas and Florida.

Forecasters at the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said at 5 a.m., Noel's winds were 40 mph with higher gusts, but said they would increase as the center of the storm moved over water again. Winds less than 38 mph are considered a tropical depression.

Noel's center was about 50 miles north-northwest of Camaguey, Cuba, moving to the north-northwest at 7 mph.

Forecaster Rick Knabb told the Miami Herald the storm hard to forecast in that it strayed from almost all track and intensity predictions.

The storm is blamed for more than 20 deaths in the Dominican Republic and Haiti. No immediate word of injuries or damage were available from Cuba.

Noel's effects were being felt as far north as Fort Lauderdale, Fla., where beaches flew rough surf and rip tide warning flags, the Herald said.

AccuWeather forecasters said Noel was expected to move through the northwestern Bahamas Thursday and by then, seas will also be rough offshore of Georgia and the Carolinas.  // Copyright 2007 by United Press International



Publication date: 31 October 2007   

Source:

Archive