Haiti gets more rain from tropical storm

At least 48 in the country have died, and more deaths are feared.

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — U.N. helicopters were waiting out driving rain that lashed Haiti on Friday before they could assess flood damage from Tropical Storm Noel, which killed at least 48 here and left thousands homeless.

The new showers from Noel’s outer bands raised fears of further deaths in a country prone to catastrophic flooding. In the Dominican Republic, which shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti, the rains largely let up, allowing flights carrying urgently needed relief supplies.

Authorities in the Dominican Republic confirmed 79 deaths and said at least 62,000 were left homeless by the storm.

The storm grew into Hurricane Noel as it passed Thursday over the Bahamas, where flooding killed one man and forced the evacuation of nearly 400 people. The storm then shifted north over the ocean and headed parallel to the U.S. Atlantic coast toward Nova Scotia.

By Friday evening, it had sustained winds of 80 mph and was centered about 320 miles southeast of North Carolina. The National Hurricane Center predicted the storm would produce up to 4 inches of rains over parts of eastern New England.

Noel is the deadliest storm of the 2007 Atlantic hurricane season, with at least 129 dead. Forecasters say 2 to 4 inches of rain could fall in North Carolina’s Outer Banks, while isolated areas of New England might see 6 inches.

The United Nations, which has a large peacekeeping force in Haiti, planned to send helicopters to survey flood damage over the country’s southern peninsula, which was hit hard by the storm.

But authorities did not know when they might be able to fly. “It just looks like we’re going to have a lot more rain,” said Felix Ronel of the Haitian national meteorological service.