NOEL REACHES HURRICANE STRENGTH!

In pictures: Storm damage

A tropical storm which has been battering parts of the Caribbean and Cuba has been upgraded in strength to a category one hurricane. The death toll from Noel has risen to at least 108, making it the deadliest storm of the Atlantic region this year. It is now heading north-east with maximum sustained winds of 120km/h (75mph), US meteorologists say.

Noel earlier drenched the Bahamas where cruise ships have been delaying their arrival until the weekend. In low-lying areas of eastern and central Cuba, 24,000 people were forced to leave their homes and at least 2,000 homes were damaged by flood waters.

In the Dominican Republic, which has been placed under a state of emergency, hundreds of volunteers joined civil defence forces to help stranded communities isolated for three days. They have been heading out in boats and helicopters to reach dozens of communities stranded by floods and mudslides.

The British mid-Atlantic territory of Bermuda has posted a gale warning, in case Noel veers more to the east than forecast. In the US, the National Hurricane Center cancelled a tropical storm warning for the south-east Florida coast. Noel is expected eventually to reach Nova Scotia in Canada.

A man was reportedly drowned in the Bahamas when he abandoned his stalled truck and was sucked into a pond by floodwater. No deaths were reported officially in Cuba where crops sustained significant damage in some areas. At least 73 people died in the Dominican Republic where chest-high flood waters surged across swathes of lands early in the week. In Haiti, 34 deaths were confirmed with many bodies found in and around the capital, Port-au-Prince.
One person died in Jamaica when a house collapsed because of heavy rain.

In September, Hurricane Felix killed 101 people in Nicaragua and Honduras.
BBC NEWS REPORT.