"Tropical Storm Emily Takes Aim At Vulnerable Haiti"

"Tropical Storm Emily took aim at Haiti on Wednesday, threatening to add to the misery of a chronically poor nation struggling to recover from last year's devastating earthquake.

Emily was about 60 miles southeast of Isla Beata in the Dominican Republic, near its border with Haiti, at 5 p.m. EDT (2100 GMT), the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.

The storm, which had already unleashed rain over Haiti, was packing sustained winds of 50 miles per hour and its center was due to pass over southwest Haiti early on Thursday morning and then over extreme eastern Cuba Thursday night.

About 600,000 Haitians are still living under makeshift tents and tarpaulins following the January 2010 earthquake that killed more than 300,000 people and shattered the capital, Port-au-Prince."

Joseph Guyler-Delva reports for Reuters August 4, 2011.