The east coast of the US went on hurricane watch Thursday as Hurricane Irene blew towards the continent after battering the Bahamas and other Caribbean islands.
Hurricane Irene was upgraded to a Category 3 storm on Wednesday as it moved over the Bahamas on a path expected to bring it to the US east coast by the weekend. The US National Hurricane Center has warned of an "extremely dangerous" storm.
Hurricane Irene strengthened again to a Category 2, after briefly losing steam, as it ravaged through Turks and Caicos and the Bahamas, making its way towards the eastern coast of the US.
Police in the Bahamas have arrested the "Barefoot Bandit", a teenage burglary suspect who became an internet sensation after eluding capture for years. Legal experts say he could face seven to 15 years in prison if convicted.
Colton Harris-Moore, known as the "Barefoot Bandit", continues to elude police in the Bahamas after stealing a plane and ditching it off the Great Abaco Island shoreline. The FBI has offered a 10,000 dollar reward for the 19 year old’s capture.
The Cuban government began mass evacuations late Sunday as Ike, labeled an "extremely dangerous" storm already responsible for at least 20 deaths in heavily flooded Haiti, looked set to barrel into the country's northeast.
Tropical storm Hanna hit the border of South and North Carolina on Saturday, US meteorologists announced. A severe hurricane season has wreaked havoc leaving more than 500 dead in Haiti.
Police in the Haitian city of Gonaives found 495 bodies as floodwaters from Tropical Storm Hanna began to recede, taking the total death toll in Haiti to more than 500 as aid organizations struggle to reach affected areas.
The death toll from Tropical Storm Hanna rose to 136 in Haiti amid fears that Hanna could gain hurricane status as it closes in on the US Atlantic coast. Meanwhile, Hurricane Ike has turned into an "extremely dangerous" Category Four storm.
Haitian authorities reported Wednesday that Tropical Storm Hanna had left 61 people dead, while another tropical storm, Ike, strengthened into a Category 3 hurricane in the open Atlantic.
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