Tropical storm Lili heads for Guantanamo Bay

Tropical storm "Lili" veered away from Haiti early this morning as it made its way toward Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.

Tropical storm "Lili" veered away from Haiti early this morning as it made its way toward Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.

At 1 a.m. (Irish time) Lili was about 300 miles southeast of the Dominican Republic's capital, Santo Domingo, and was moving west-northwest at 7 mph approaching western Haiti.

Although it made a slight shift away from the mainland, Lili began to drench Haiti with lashing rains.

Maximum winds were 45 mph and little change was expected in the next 24 hours. But officials in the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Cuba were preparing for flash floods and wind gusts.

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Lili could reach Guantanamo Bay Naval Base late on Friday and could carry enough winds and rains to warrant moving the 598 al-Qaeda and Taliban detainees to a secure location away from their seaside cells, US military officials said.

On the US Gulf Coast, tropical storm Isidore dumped rain from 250 miles offshore, raising fears of flooding and chasing tourists and residents inland. The storm, packing 60-mph winds, was expected to come ashore along Louisiana's swampy shoreline early tomorrow.

AP