Hurricane Hanna kills two students in Puerto Rico

National Hurricane Center three day forecast for Tropical Storm Hanna

Police officials confirmed today that the body of a Columbian man has been recovered from a surging river swollen by the torrential rains of Hanna. Additionally, a Brazilian woman who was with the deceased at the time of the storm remains missing and is also presumed dead.

The students’ identities are being protected at this time until their families have been made aware of the loss.

Because Hanna moved slowly across Puerto Rico and into the Bahamas, an estimated 6-12 inches of rain fell on the U.S. territory, causing the severe flooding that led to the students’ deaths. ~~Adz:Right~~

Early Tuesday morning at the Miami, Florida based National Hurricane Center (NHC), an advisory was issued indicating that Hanna’s sustained wind speeds had dropped to 70mph, thus classifying it as a tropical storm.

Though the storm has not claimed any other lives at this time, forecasters remain concerned about flooding in the Bahamas and the Turks & Caicos. Also of particular concern is the northwestern area of Haiti, which is still recovering from flooding related to Hurricane Gustav. Following Gustav, Haiti was left with nearly 8,000 homeless persons.

Forecasters at the NHC have stated that they expect “little change [for Hanna] in the next 24 hours” as it slowly works its way northeast toward Florida at roughly six miles per hour.

It is further predicted that “some strengthening is possible on Wednesday night and Thursday,” with islands and coastal areas in the path of the storm being subject to “costal surges of 3 to 5 feet above the normal levels…along with large and dangerous battering waves”.